
Class 
Book. 



roPYRJCHT DEPOSIT 



LaFollette's Winning of 
Wisconsin 

(1894-1904) 
By Albert 0. Barton 

With an Introduetion by Hon. Louis D. Brandeis • 



At tlie Birlliphtcc af a Great Amriirfni.— (E. M. LoFJ 

What a tradition will your high name he, 
If'hen the contending years their rage have spent! 
Here shall men come with loondering sons in hand, 
And pause the while in wistful r every, 
Saying: "Mere sprang a man, by Nature sent 
Forth triple-armed with flame, high heart and zeal, 
To front the later dragons of our land, 
IVhom others fed, nor dared to meet with steel." 

Your place on History 's page not ours to tell, 

Nor yet our children's; centuries long may pass, 

Ere the impartial muse her oracle 

Shall summon; so the recurring grass 

Greens where old Israel's thunderers long slept. 

Scorned still their race, their truths none hut accept. 

—A. 0. B. 



/ 
/ 



Illustrated 



MADISON, WIS. 
1922. 



.^^, 



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Copyright, 1922, by 

ALBERT O. BARTON. 

All Rights Reserved. 



•VHK HOMRSTEAD COMPANY 

Dks Moines, Iow.v 

1922. 



JAN29?3 
©cuoysooo 



^ 



Not Without Some Prejudice and Errors, 
Perhaps, hut Designed Sincerely with a 
View to Truth and Fairness, This Work — 
Written Little by Little, on the Shores of 
Both Oceans, in Many Cities and Places — 
and Under Greatly Varying Circumstances 
— Is Submitted to Those Who May Be In- 
terested in Learning Something of the More 
Intimate Incidental Aspects, the Passions, 
Prejudices and Practices of an Interesting 
and Significant Transitionary Period in the 
History of a Great State. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 



CU AFTER I. 
The Kepublican Insurgent Movement in Congress. 
LaFoIIette 's First Formal Speech in United States Senate 
Creates Significant Occasion — An Historic Warning — Growing 
Unrest in Congress — Progressive Movement Organized at LaFoI- 
Iette Home — Eoosevelt Candidacy Splits Progressive Element in 
Party. 

CRAFT Ell II. 
Granger Legislation in Wisconsin. 
Exploitation of Resources of State — Railroad and Lumber In- 
terests Active in Politics — Potter Law First Strong Attempt at 
Railroad Regulation — Governor Taylor 's Great Fight — Celebrated 
Court Decision — Potter Law Repealed and Railroads Regain Power. 

CRAFTER III. 

LaFollette-Saavyer Incident. 
Sensational Break Destined to Have Important Later Ittesults — - 
Statements of Sawyer and LaFoIIette as to the Cause of the/ 
Trouble. 

CRAFTER IF. 

The Haugen Candidacy F0l^ Governok. 
LaFoIIette Organizes Revolt Against Old Party Leaders — Re- 
veals Astonishing Organizing Capacity — First Big Clasli of Re- 
l)ublican Factions — Uphani Nominated — New Leader Attracts 
Marked Attention. 

CRAFTER r. 

# LaFollette's First Candidacy for Governor. 

Another Sharp Campaign — Hoard Disclaims Understanding or 
Deal at Convention — Bribery of Delegates Charged — Scolield Nom- 
inated. 



(havtek VI. 

* ' Menace-of-the-Machine ' ' Speech. 
Sifjnificant Year in LaFollotte Movement — Future (iovernor 
Foreshailowa Crusade in Chicago Address — Proposes Primary 
Elections — Fern Dell Speech — liegins Speaking at County Fairs — 
Press Greatly Interested in Crusade and Its Purpose. 

CHAPTER VII. 
Albert R. Hall and His Work. 
.\ Strong, Heroic Character — His Long Fight for Anti-Pass and 
Railroad Tax Legislation — The Pass and Its Evils — Significant 
Referendum Vote on Railroad Legislation. 

CHAPTER VIII. 
Campaign of 1898. 
LaFollette Again a Candidate to Keep Principles Alive — A. R. 
Hall Attacks Scofield — Governor's Cow Becomes Famous — Stirring 
Convention Battle. 

CHAPTER IX. 
The Milwaukee Movement. 
Tmjiortant Moral and Financial Aid Given Reform Cause — Re- 
publican Club of >ril\vaukee County Formed — C. F. P. Pullen 
Gives History — Baiimgartner and His Work. 

CHAPTER X. 

Convention of 1898. 
LaFollette Enters as Candidate at Late Hour — Rumors of 
' ' Dark Horse ' ' to be Entered — Stirring Convention Scenes — Sco- 
field Renominated — Platform Shows Progressive Advance. 

CHAPTER XI. 

LaFollette '.s Fir.st Nomination and Election. 
Many Candidates in Field — Im}>ortant Dual Victory of LaFol 
lette Foreshadows His Nomination — Opposing Candidates Rapi<lly 
Withdraw — Spooner Announces His Determination to Quit Senate 
— Unanimous Nomination of LaFollette — Remarkable Speaking 
Tour and Great Enthusiasm for Candidate. 

CHAPTER XII. , 

SriKRiNfi Leoi.slative Se.s.sion ok 19uL 
LaFollette Reads Message to Legislature — Demands Primary 
Election Legislation and Advalorem Taxation of Railroa<ls — (treat 



Battle U\er Piimaiy Elections — Memorable Night Session — Gov- 
ernor 's Measures Defeated — Senate Adopts Resolutions of 
Censure. 

CHAPTER XIII. 
The Republican League and Its Activities. 
New Organization Formed for Defeat of LaFollette — Headquar- 
ters Established in Hermann Building, Milwaukee — Big Chain of 
Newspapers Subsidized and Served from League Office — Purchase 
of Press Exposed by Henry E. Roethe and John J. Hannan — Gov- 
ernor Becomes Dangerously 111 — Declares Fight Must Go On. 

CHAPTER Xir. 

Great Contest of 1902. 
Early Speech by LaFollette Before Farmers' Institute Shows 
Determination to Achieve Primary Reform — Stalwarts Complicate 
Issue liy Cry of ' ' Return Spooner ' ' — Whitehead Brought Out to 
Oppose LaFollette — Great Activity of Stalwart League — Adminis- 
tration Acliieves Coup Ijy Having Convention Set for Madison — 
LaFollette Renominated — Convention Incidents — Qualified En- 
dorsement of Spooner — Voter 's Handbook a Notable Pamphlet. 

CHAPTER XF. 

Reactionauy Policy of Democrats. 
Convention Dominated by Corporation Influences — Dave Rose 
Nominated — Bryan Denounces Party State Platform — Bryan 's 
Further Attitude Toward Wisconsin Reform Movement — Many 
Leading Democrats Silent — LaFollette Makes Great Opening 
Speech at Milwaukee — Stirring Campaign of Many Incidents — 
LaFollette Meets Spooner Issue — LaFollette Re-elected — Demo- 
cratic Defection Estimated at 30,000. 

CHAPTER Xri. 

Sensational Legislative Session of 1903. 
Three Special Messages of Governor on Railroad Legislation — 
Lenroot Elected Speaker of Assembly — Fight for Primary Elec- 
tions Renewed— Congressman Babcock Comes to Direct Stalwart 
Forces — Governor Vetoes Hagemeister Bill With Stinging Message 
— Primary Bill With Referendum Feature Finally Passed — Stal- 
wart Plan to Defeat it at Polls — Railroad Ad Valorem Bill 
Passed. 

CHAPTER XVII. 

Railroad Commission Bill. 
Becomes New Issue — Last Big Legislative Battle of LaFollette 
Regime — Spirited Committee Hearings — Governor Submits Long 



S|ii'rijil MesHiige — (.iieat (jatliering of Shippers Appears in Pro- 
test — Brilliant Night Debate — Measure Killed — Kailroa<l ' ' Red 
Line" Incident — Great Power of Lobby Shown. 

L'UAl'TEU Xrill. 
Incidents of Session op 1903. 
Re-election of Senator Spooner — President Roosevelt Visits 
Capitol — A Period of Teeming Activity — Walworth County Poli- 
tics Reviewed. 

CHAPTEK XIX. 
Reading of Freight Rates. 
Governor Early in Lecture Field After Session — Creates Sen- 
sation by Charging Bribery in Session of 1901 — Sounds First 
" High-Cost-of- Living" Note in Labor Day Address — Another 
County Fair Campaign — Substitutes Reading of Freight Rates for 
Roll Call. 

CHAPTER XX. 
The Decksive Yeah of 19(I4. 
Annus Mirabilis in State History — Campaign That Determined 
Issue of Pojiular Government in Wisconsin — ' ' LaFoUetteism " 
Overshadows All Other Questions — Stalwart Lack of Leadership — 
Baensch Announces Candidacy — Early Incidents of Year — Barber- 
Sturtevant Letters — Burning of Capitol — Ailministration Seeks 
Defeat of Congressman Babcock — Significant Supreme Court Elec- 
tion. 

CEAPTEE XXI. 

The ' 'Press Gang." 

Something of tlie Part it Played in Big Political Game — ' • Bill " 

Powell and Others Described — W. D. Connor Enters Upon Political 

Stage — Elected State Chairman — Breaks With LaFollette Over 

T'nited States Senatorship. 

CEAPTEE XXII. 
Pke-Convention Conte.st.s. 
Governor Sounds Keynote of Campaign in Milton Junction 
Grange Speech — Defends Grange Legislation — Exciting Caucus 
f'ampaign Oi)ens — Vote in Dane County Exceeds That in General 
Election — Many Contests in Counties — Indications Stalwarts De- 
termineij on Desperate Course. 



CHAPTER XXIll. 
The Opera House Caucus. 
Rumors of Pogsible Rioting — Extraordinary Precautions Taken 
—Great Excitement in Madison— Stalwarts Hold ' ' Caucus ' ' Meet- 
ing in Opera House— Fiery Speech by M. G. Jeffris— Stalwarts 
March to Gymnasium— Must Run Gauntlet of Guards— Incidents 
of Opening of Convention. 

CHAPTER XXIF. 
Gymnasium Convention. 
Intense Interest Taken in Proceedings — Fears of Outbreak at 
Opening— Stalwart Leader Jeffris Overruled— Great Demonstra- 
tion at Chairman Lenroot's Mention of LaFollette's Name — The 
Rosenberry Incident— First Test Vote Gives Administration Ma- 
jority—Stalwart Leaders Protest and Cook Pleads for Party 
Peace— Jeffris Leads Bolt of Baensch Delegates from Hall — Cook 
Delegates Remain. 

CHAPTER XXr. 

The Opera House Convention. 

Floor Leader Jeffris Again Attacks Administration — Convention 

Opens Amid Great Enthusiasm— Baensch Withdraws and Cook 

Placed in Nomination— "Big Guns" of Party Heard— Ovation 

for Spooner. 

CHAPTER XXn. 
Gymnasium Convention Concluded. 
LaFollette and Other State Officers R^iominated— Interesting 
Incident in Connection With Governor's Acceptance — Aggressive 
Campaign Urged— Observations on Defections from LaFollette. 

CHAPTER XXVII. 

Before the National Convention. 
Rival Factions Appeal to National Committee— LaFollette Dele- 
gation Visits Roosevelt— Receives No Encouragement— Committee 
Decides for Stalwarts— Premature Announcement by Committee on 
Credentials— LaFollette Delegation Leaves Chicago— Stalwarts 
Seated— Incidents of Summer— Removal of State Treasurer 
Kempf — Democrats Again Adopt Reactionary Platform — Peck for 
Governor. 

CHAPTER XXFIII. 
The Supreme Court Decision. 
Stalwarts Appear Before Tribunal— Demand Republican Column 



oil Ballot — Attorneys in Biy Legal t'outroversy— Court hjustaius 
State Central Committee — Cook Withdraws — Stalwarts Demoral- 
ized. 

CHAPTER XXIX. 

Incidents in Progress of Campaign. 
Lincoln Steffens Visits Madison — Vindicates Course of Admin- 
iptration — Govornor in Strenuous Campaign — Typical Hard Day 
in Northern Wisconsin. 

CHAPTER XXX. 

Rival Faction.s in the Field. 
Sliarp Campaign Pressed by Both Siiles — LaFollotte Adopts 
Automobile Plan of Travel — Cook Withdraws from Ticket and 
Scofield Substituted — Incidents of Fast and Furious Fini.sh. 

CHAPTER XXXI. 
A Fateful Election. 
Intense Interest Taken in Outcome of Campaign — National Is- 
sues Forgotten — Stalwarts Throw Support to Peck — LaFollette 
and A. R. Hall Speak at Milwaukee — LaFollette Re-elected — Re- 
ceives Flood of Congratulations — Significance of Election — La- 
Follette 's Long Contest Finally Won. 



ILLUSTRATIONS 



Page 

R. M. LaFollette as Governor, 1904, (Froxtispiece) 12 

John J. Blaine 

Herman L. Ekern I j^^ .. 

R. M. LaFollette as United States Sexator, 1914 | Between 
Mrs. R. M. LaFollette ' Pages 

Constructive Men of LaFollette Adminlstkations ' 16 & 17 
(Group) " ! 

LaFollette Farm Home, Maple Bluff 90 

Milwaukee Caucus Ticket, 1898 I'oi 

Scene, LaFollette Farm, Madison 13'> 

Home of R. M. LaFollette When Nominated for Gover- 
nor, Wilson Street, Madison 164 

Wisconsin State Officers, 1903-07 195 

A Famous LaFollette Cartoon 199 

Cartoon, 1902, Showing Old Capitol 205 

Mrs. LaFollette as Campaigner 24.5 

Old Assembly Chamber, Madison 247 

Prominent Figures in Campaign. 1904 (Group) 293 

Suppressed Political Cartoon 3q7 

Mrs. LaFollette Speaking to Farmers 333 

Republican Caucus Map, 1904 357 

Birthplace of R. M. LaFollette, Primrose, Wis ,36(5 

Republican Convention Ticket, 1904 371 

University of Wisconsin, Gymnasium 373 

Cartoon of Gymnasium Convention 375 

H. A. HUBER .,„„ 

Facsimile of Convention Extra ' 339 

Map Showing Election Results, 1904 "447 

Joel Beitts, Primrose Pioneer 47I 

Scene, Old LaFollette Farm, Primrose 472 




ROBERT M. LAFOLLETTE 
As (Joveriior of Wisconsin, 190-4 



FOREWORD 



The work herewith published was practically com- 
pleted in 1914. It was not written primarily for publi- 
cation, but rather wath a view to reflecting the spirit and 
preserving many illuminating incidents of the contro- 
versial period covered while yet they were vivid in the 
writer's memory. At the time it was undertaken the 
progressive movement gave promise of developing into a 
stable political organization with great possibilities in 
the way of legislation, and a corresponding influence on 
national policies, as set forth in the opening chapter. 
The great bulk of the remainder of the work was de- 
signed to aid the general student of politics who might 
be interested in learning how the experience and equip- 
ment which Senator LaFollette brought to its leader- 
ship were acquired. 

As the present political situation in the nation is 
strongly reminiscent of that existing a decade ago, the 
work may perhaps not inappropriately be now given to 
the light. It may perhaps be unnecessary to state that 
the w'riter is entirely responsible for what it purports to 
present, and that Senator LaFollette has in no way had 
any hand in its preparation, nor read any of its copy. 

A. 0. B. 



INTRODUCTORY 



Lovers of American liberty are full of hope; but the 
period of boyish exuberance has been followed by one 
of maturer consideration of the grave problems of democ- 
racy. The need of solving these problems is urgent. The 
inherent difficulties are great. There is insistent demand 
for political and social invention. The best conceived 
plans for the amelioration of our conditions will require 
for success laborious development of details, careful ad- 
justment to local conditions, and great watchfulness for 
years after their introduction. We must encourage such 
social and political invention, though we feel sure that 
the successes will be few and the failures many. Most 
of these inventions can be applied only with the sanction 
and aid of the government. It is America's good for- 
tune that her federal system furnishes in the forty-eight 
states political and social laboratories in which these in- 
ventions may be separately worked out and tested, thus 
multiplying the opportunities for inventors and mini- 
raizing the dangers of failure. 

In this new field of applied political and social science, 
Wisconsin, under the leadership, and largely owing to 
the inspiration of Robert M. LaFollette. has occupied 
the first place. Mr. Barton performs an important pub- 
lic service in recording the history of the Wisconsin 
struggle for progress and thus helping others to under- 
stand the lofty strivings, the courage and patience of 
those to whom her primacy is largely due. 

Louis D, Brandeis. 
Boston, Mass., July 28, 1914. 




J'lHN J. IILAINK 
State Senator (1909-1013) 
Early Progressive Leader 



:k.max 1.. i:k i-:k.\ 

Asseml)ly leader and speak- 
er. Leader in Insurance Leg- 
islation. 





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IMiMt,, I, r, l;,ihniM,,i 

.MUS. UolJKU'l' M. l..\l''( tl>l>i:T'J'i: 
"ThrouKli her his civic service shows a purer-toiitd aniliitioii' 




("t).NSTIir«Tl\ 10 iMKN i.>F l^A K< lUJOrTlO A 1 i.MlMS'l" K ATU »NS 
1 — John K. Oummdiis, assistftl (Irafliiiy rt'fi)rm K'f;islation. 
mcinliiT lii'st Industrial Commission. 2 — CharK's H. McCarthy, 
lirst •■pi>n))lo's cxiHTt" 111 drariiiiH loy:islation. head of Lt'Kisla- 
tivc lietci »-nco lUiroaii. :! — Chief Justict- Joliii H. Winslow. au- 
thor of Croat Opinion Sustaining- WorkiiU'iTs Compensation 
Law. (Copyrighted liy l)eLonjL;-e, Madison, Wis.) t — William 
II. Ilatton, senate leader in Ctility Ueyulatimi Let? islation. .". — 
Charles \l. \'nu Ilise, under whom as prt-sidnit (T.iOl-llU'.M I'lii- 
verslty of VVisconsiii had romarkalde growth. 



A 



CHAPTER I 

The Republican Insurgent Movement in 
Congress. 

LaFollette's First Formal Speech in United States Sen- 
ate Creates Significant Occasion — An Historic Warning — 
Growing Unrest in Congress — Progressive Movement Organ- 
ized at LaFollette Home — Roosevelt Candidacy Splits Pro- 
gressive Element in Party. 

1 N the history of American politics April 19, 1906, may 
be rightly termed an interesting and, to no little ex- 
tent, a significant day. In one of the ablest discussions 
of the railroad regulation question that had so far been 
heard in congress, the lines that day were laid down 
upon which the various states and the federal govern- 
ment have since found it most practicable to proceed, 
not only in the regulation of railroads, but of other great 
activities of capital that afiPect the daily life of the whole 
people, and whose growth and development form at once 
the chief industrial phenomenon and problem of the 
times. But a further significance was to grow out of 
the occasion and the discussion to which reference is 
here made. 

The scene is the chamber of the United States senate. 
The so-called "Hepburn rate bill" is under discussion. 
A new figure in this storied hall has just obtained the 
floor — Robert Marion LaFollette of "Wisconsin. He is 
not unknown, even among his senatorial colleagues. He 
has already served a number of years in the lower house, 
and for a decade has made a great stir in his state over 
the railroad question and placed upon his home statute 
books a variety of "reform" laws whose practicability 
remains to be determined. Furthermore, his has been 



Is L.\F()i.i.i.riK".s Wi.N.MM, OK Wisconsin 

the rather unusual act of withholding resignation of the 
governorship of his state for a year after his election to 
the senate in order that he might intrench and perfect 
these laws. 

Xot only is the occasion interesting because of the 
sounding of a new voice, but because a tradition is being 
violated. The speaker Has been in his seat but three 
months, not appearing until a month after congress had 
convened. Under the unwritten and time-honored prac- 
tice of the dignified body of which he has become a mem- 
ber, he should not presume to ask the ear of the senate 
during his first session at least; yet there he rises with 
every indication of entering upon a prolonged speech, 
and upon the great and intricate question of railroad 
regulation. 

Predictions had been freely made in the press, and in 
political circles, that upon the coming of the "Wisconsin 
firebrand" to the senate he would be given a reception 
calculated to cool the ardor with which he had carried 
on his anti-corporation crusades at home. In short, a 
"hazing" awaited him should he presume to advance 
any of his ideas and methods in the senate. 

Tlius the Norfhwesteryi Christitin Advocate of January 
ID, 1906, said : 

It is stated in the daily press that Ex-Governor LaFollette. 
who was elected some months ago by the legislature of Wisconsin 
as the colleague of Senator Spooner in the United States senate, 
will be subjected to certain treatment when he enters that boily 
euch as is usually accorded to new member.s; and if he should pre 
Bume to attenifit to make a speech in the senate before he has been 
a member of the body for a certain length of time that the sena 
tors will show their disajiproval by slipping out of the senate 
chamber and leaving him to speak to empty seats. If this should 
be done, the discourtesy will not be to Senator LaFollette, but to 
the state of Wisconsin. 

Evidently the hour when he may e.xpect such demon- 
stration of disapproval from his fellow members is at 
liand. 



The REPUBt.iCAN Insurgent Movement 19 

LaFollette had devoted years of profound study to 
the railroad regulation question. He knew that he felt 
his ground more securely than many of his older col- 
leagues who were droning along on the subject. In the 
very opening sentence of his speech on this occasion, he 
teid bare the irrelevancy of much of the discussion, as 
well as a common legislative trick, by saying: 

The oppoueuts of tlie regulation of railway rates and services 
have skilfully conducted this debate, almost from the beginning, 
uiion constitutional grounds. 

Convinced that he could shed some light on the sub- 
ject, and feeling it his duty, no less to the people of the 
nation than to those of his state, whom he believed he 
was sent to represent, the new senator resolved to speak, 
tradition or no tradition, and whatever grotesque con- 
ventions might stand in the way. 

The speech delivered by Senator LaFollette on that 
day, and the two days succeeding, was perhaps the most 
thorough-going discussion of the railroad regulation 
problem that had so far been heard in the national cap- 
itol. Such was the general verdict of the press at the 
time. In its printed form it comprised 144 pages. It 
has justly been called a textbook upoii the question. It 
has been in enormous demand even to this daj^ and is 
found upon the shelf of practically every member of con- 
gress or other serious student of the railroad question. 
The result of years of study and practical experience in 
legislation, it touched basic principles and pointed the 
way on which to proceed to obtain practical and worth- 
while results. In the more thoughtful press of the time 
it was widely quoted and heralded as a new word upon 
an old subject. 

But his impatient colleagues were determined to make 
an example of his effrontery, little realizing that by so 
doing the day was to be big in future results. 

The new senator had spoken but a few minutes when 



20 LaFoi.i.kttk's Winm.n(; of Wisconsix 

lie fouiicl his fellow membei's crowding the doorways of 
the cloak rooms. Then it was that, quite by the way, he 
drftpped the now historic words: 

Mr. President: I pause in my remarks to say this: I can- 
not be wholly indifferent to the fact that senators by their absence 
at this time indicate their lack of interest in what I may ha\« 
to s;iy ujion tliis subject. The public is interested. Unless thi.s 
important ijuestion is rightly settled, seats now temporarily vacant 
may be permanently vacated by those who have tho ri<jht to oc- 
cupy them at this time. 

In violation of the rules, the galleries ui)plaud these 
daring words. Then arises Senator Kean, of New Jer- 
sey, and says : 

Mr. I'resident : I rise to a ijuestion of order. I ask that the 
rules of the senate be enforced, and that the galleries be cleared. 

The presiding officer (Senator Long in the chair) says : 
The presiding officer will admonish the occupants of the gal- 
leries that it is contrary to the rules of the senate to express ap- 
proval or disaj)proval of any remarks that may be made, and upon 
a recurrence of it the galleries will be ordered cleared. 

From that hour republican insurgency in congress be- 
gan taking tangible form ; the progressive movement in 
the party had received the stimulus that was to quicken 
it into organized individual life and therein lay the 
double significance of the occasion. "LaFollette talking 
to empty seats and applauding galleries, and Kean mov- 
ing to have the galleries cleared," remarked a paper of 
Kean's own state at the time, "is eloquently significant. 
It is a i)rophecy and a liope of better things." 

A study of the senate roll calls of the sessions imme- 
diately following is interesting. It reveals LaFollette 
as a lone insurgent among his party colleagues, voting 
indopondontly and fearlessly, regardless of expediency, 
and guided only by his conceptions of the principles of 
justice and right. The proposition laid down in his 
speech upon the Hepburn bill, chief of which was that 
of physical valuation of railroads as a basis in rate- 



The Republican lNsuK(if:.\T Movement 21 

making, he incorporated in amendments to that bill, and 
to other measures that came up, but one by one they were 
almost invariably voted down. Had they been adopted 
©ongress might, in some degree, at least, have been spared 
the long and weary time spent upon the so-called com- 
merce court bill in the session of 1910. 

The economic soundness and moral justness of the pro- 
posed amendments, however, began in time to appeal to 
some of his more open-minded western colleagues and 
finally his continued brave and consistent stand began 
to attract some of these senators to his banner, and thus 
was formed the nucleus of the organized progressive 
republican movement of the time. 

Among the first of his colleagues to begin taking their 
stand with him was Senator Dolliver of Iowa, soon to 
close his brilliant career. Later on came Senator Cum- 
mins of the same state. From Idaho came Borah, young, 
brilliant, fired by high ideals; from Nebraska, Brown, 
an able and aggressive debater when he chose to be ; from 
Oregon, Bourne, champion of popular rule legislation in 
his state; from Kansas, Bristow, a thorough democrat, 
unflagging foe of privilege and corruption, of tireless 
industry and dogmatic convictions; from Minnesota. 
Clapp, ponderous of build and equi-ponderant in ora- 
tory, who from education in the Badger state compre- 
hended the Wisconsin temper and spirit. 

Later on came Beveridge of Indiana, one of the ablest 
and most versatile men who ever sat in the senate ; who 
had himself been previously hazed for the same sin of 
not sitting through a probationary period as a dummy 
representative of his state ; and Crawford of South Da- 
kota, a strong self-made man, who, as governor of his 
state, had signed a comprehensive series of reform laws 
that had also put his state in the front rank of progres- 
sive commonwealths. 

'~ In short, the insurgent group in the senate in 1910 in- 
cluded the majority of the ablest debaters and all-around 



22 LaP"'ui,i,i;ttk's'\Vin.\i.n(; of Wisconsin 

strongest men on the republican side. "The somewhat 
lonesome pioiit-ei- froin Wisconsin," as he was character- 
ized by Senator Dolliver, had more than vindicated an- 
other prophecy — that he would not long stand alone. 

In the house a like party revolt was inevitable, follow- 
ing the high-handed i)roeodnre of the so-called Cannon 
"maeliine" in the passage of the Payne tariff l)ill. The 
adoption by the republican majority of the Dalzell gag 
resolution shutting off amendments and debate on all 
but a half dozen items in tliis bill was simply character- 
istic of the tyranny which tlie speaker and his committee 
on rules had developed through a long course of years, 
but was now to rouse more than ordinary protest in the 
breasts of the more independent members of the party. 

Congressman Cooper of Wisconsin had often de- 
nounced and voted against this growing arrogance and 
power of the speaker, and Congressman Nelson of Wis- 
consin had made himself a marked man in his first term 
by agitating a curtailing of this power. The brave but 
futile attempt of the little band of republican insurgents 
to bring about this end at the opening of the special 
tariff session in 1909 emphasized the growing protest 
against machine subversion of popular government. 

The insurgency of tlie house, like that of the senate, 
was western in its makeup. Naturally Congressmen 
Cooper, Nelson and Lenroot of Wisconsin, seasoned vet- 
erans in LaFollette's state campaigns, became influen- 
tial factors in it. Norris of Nebraska identified himself 
with it and was to have the peculiar distinction of lead- 
ing the fight that finally led to the unhorsing of Speaker 
Cannon in March, 1910. A militant recruit to the cause 
immediately on his entrance in the house was Poindexter 
of the state of Washington, who, although Virginia-bred, 
had thoroughly absorbed the spirit of his new home. 
Murdock, representing the independent Kansas temper; 
Davis, Lindbergh and Volstead of Minnesota ; Cary, 



The Rei'IBIUAx Lnsiiu.km Movemk.nt 23 

Morse and Kopp of Wisconsin ; Hubbard, Haugeu and 
Kendall of Iowa, and Hayes of California were others 
active in the house movement. 

These members reflected the sentiment that was spring- 
ing up in their respective sections. The extent to which 
the idea of revolt had seized upon the popular mind was 
strikingly shown in the elections of 1910 whereby dozens 
of "standpat" senators and congressmen of both parties, 
many of great prominence, were retired to private life, 
most of them being succeeded by "progressives." 

The inspiration of the movement was a fresh con- 
sciousness of the necessity of curbing the dangerous and 
gro\nng tendencies toward industrial and commercial 
despotism on the part of organized wealth ; a new realiza- 
tion of the justice of the age-long demand for equal op- 
portunities to all, and a determination to insist on its 
more general observance. 

Again, as in many instances in the past, this convic- 
tion was to be translated from mere academic acceptance 
into action, and again, as in the time of Lincoln, the hope 
of its assertion in red-blooded practical form was to lie 
in the virile west. The east, with its more settled order, 
its reverence for property and established things, would 
naturally be slow to respond to the new movement, as 
would the almost equally tory south, blinded by its twin 
delusions of states' rights and negro domination, its 
preference of combating the phantoms of the past to 
fighting the dragons of the present. 

"All through American history,"' says Prof. E. A. 
Ross, "democi'acy has been like a tradewind, blowing 
ever from the sunset. The young states of the Ohio val- 
ley led in multiplying the number of elective offices, in 
introduci]]g rapid rotation in office, in submitting state 
constitutions to popular ratification. Class bulwarks of 
colonial date were thus pounded to pieces by the surf 
of democratic sentiment from the west; Jeffersonian and 



1^1 L.\Fi)M.Kni:s Wi.v.m.m. ok Wislu.nsin 

Jaeksdiiian (Iciiioeracy, Lincoln republicanism, C4ranger- 
ism, })0{)ulisni, Bryan democracy, Roosevelt republican- 
ism — wave after wave has rolled seaward, loosing the 
oast from its Old World, or first family, or 'best people' 
mooringfs. ' ' ' 

Restoration of popular rule, a return to the principles 
aiul practices that were designed to mark the govern- 
ment in its beginning, was the simple creed of the move- 
niont. The expression by the new progressive pioneers 
(if this sentiment, and of the imperative necessity of 
action, wliile varied in form, was of the same general 
tenor. 

Thus on his .second election to the United States senate, 
Senator LaFollette said : 

We are slow to realize that deniocrac-y is a life; and involves 
continual struggla It is only as those of every generation who 
love (lenioeracy resist with all their might the encroachments of 
its enemies that the ideals of roipresentative government can even 
be nearly approximated. 

The essence of the ))rogressive movement, as I see it, lies in 
its struggle to uphold the fundamental principles of representative 
government. It expresses the hojies and desires of millions of 
common men and women who are willing to tight for their ideals, 
to take defeat, if necessary, and still go on fighting. 

This conijjosite judgment is always safer and wiser and 
stronger and more unselfish than the judgment of any one indi- 
vidual mind. The people have never failed in any great crisis in 
our history. The real danger to democracy lies not in the igno- 
rance or want of patriotism in the people, but in the corrupting 
influence of powerful business organizations upon the representa- 
tives of the people. The real cure for the ills of democracy is 
more democracy. 

Said Woodrow Wilson, theti governor of New Jersey : 
It is jiart of the new meaning of government, therefore, that 
its resources are not to be put at the disposal of the governing 
class, or of any limited set of governing influences; but that those 
who exorcise its authority must "keep house" for the whole jieople. 
The reason we want our government to be free from every kind 
of private or narrow control is that we want to h.ne it see more 
things than it would sec if it served only a few. Those who con- 



Thr Republican Insttrgknt Movement 25 

duct it ought to have the vision of the nation itself — ought to be 
sensitive to impulses from every (|uarter. 

Again, in an interview, Governor Wilson said : 
What policies cliaracterize progressive democracy? All those 
policies whose object is to wrest government from the control of 
special groups of men, and restore it to the country. All the 
])olicies t^at re-establish the connection between representatives 
and the people. All well-considered measures "that will tend to re- 
establish general opportunity and freedom of enterprise. 

Judge Ben B, Lindsey of Colorado predicted great 
coming changes, saying : 

The work has only begun; we are changing our forms of gov- 
ernment; we are making it more simple. We are taking away 
the chance of confusion ; but most of* all we are putting that 
power directly into the hands of all the people to bring about a 
reign of real democracy. 

No man who is not ready to grant to every other man all that 
he demands for himself, whether in political power or in oppor- 
tunity, has any place in this great struggle. No man who is un- 
willing to trust all the people all the time with any question can 
survive in this great bloodless revolution that is now transforming 
the nation. 

Senator Jonathan Bourne of Oregon, in his famous 
speech in the United States senate on Oregon, May 5, 
1910, said : 

There are doubtless some j^eople who lionestly believe that the 
people as a whole have not reached the stage of development qual- 
ifying them individually to participate in government. Others 
whom I credit with the intelligence which I have seen manifested 
by them in other directions assert the inability of the people to 
govern themselves as an excuse rather than a conviction; but I, 
Mr. President, from thirty years ' experience in practical politics, 
am absolutely convinced not only that the people are fully capable 
of governing themselves, but that they are decidedly the best 
judges as to those individually to whom they shall delegate the 
truly representative power. 

Writing in the American Magazine, William Allen 
White of Kansas said : 

That there is a well defined feeling in our hearts manifest in 
our private charities and our public utterances in conventions and 



20 LaFoi.i i;i Tbs \Vin.m.\<; of Wisccinkix 

legislatures that society is not doing its <iuty towaril those who 
do the world 's work, no one who heeds public sentiment can doubt. 
This sentiment is growing. It is behind the so-called progressive 
movement in our politics — giving it moral impetus. When that 
sentiment hardens and becomes the set and fixed exjiression of 
the American people government will respond to it, for neither 
courts nor constitutions can stand before public sentiment. 

Even in the njiiversities this sentiment of niirest was 
noted and given expre.ssion. Speaking on tlie subject 
of "The Spirit of a University," President Charles R. 
Van Ilise of the University of Wisconsin said: 

As of old, so today, the spirit of the university is in irrecon- 
cilable conflict with those who hold that the present state of affairs 
is the best jiossihle, who believe that existing conventions, morals, 
political and religious faith, are fixed. All are fluid. For one 
nation they are not the same as for another. For each nation 
they are modified from generation to generation. This will con- 
tinue so long as the race endures. In the university, one of the 
chief functions of which is to inquire, ever to adjust, ever to im- 
prove, ever to advance knowledge, the flux is greatest, the prog- 
ress most rapid; and therefore these institutions are the very 
centers of disturbance. 

Naturally William J. Bryan was in sympatliy with the 
movement. Speaking before the Ohio constitutional con- 
vention somewhat later he said: 

Tlie initiative and referendum do not overthrow representative 
government — they have not come to destroy but to fulfill. The 
purpose of representative government is to represent, and that 
|>urpose fails when roi)resentatives misrepresent their constituents. 
Exi)erience has shown that the defects of our government are not 
in the people themselves, but in those who, acting us representa- 
tives of the j>('()i)le, embezzle jiowcr and turn to their own advan- 
tage the authority given them for the advancement of the public 
welfare. It has cost centuries to secure popular government — 
the blood of millions of the best and the bravest has been poured 
out to establish the doctrine that governments derive their just 
powers from the consent of the governed. 

All this struggle, all this sacrifice, has been in vain if, when 
we secure a representative goveriunent, the jieo])le's representa- 
tives can betray them with impunity and mock their constituents 
while they draw salaries from the public treasury. 



The Republican Insurgent Movement 27 

Prof. E. A. Ross of the University of Wisconsin, in 
an article in the Century Magazine, said: 

It is this affrighting vision of monopoly that explains the 
iron determination of the people to get a firmer grip on their 
government. It is true, as witness Oregon, that when they get 
direct legislation they do nothing radical with it; but they are 
tliinking of the future, like a prudent traveler who looks to his 
shooting irons before setting out through a country infested by 
brigands. 

The reascension of democracy has been prompted not by se- 
ditious intent, popular self conceit, or the seduction of strange 
doctrines, but by prudence. Bitter experience has taught the 
people that the secret rule of certain kinds of property or certain 
kinds of business through the jtarty machines mean things abom- 
inable — predatory vice, private monopoly, the wasting of natural 
wealth, overworked children and women, industrial oppression. 

Said George L. Record of New Jersey at the national 
conference of progressive republicans in Chicago, in 
October, 1911 : 

Because men are gradually becoming more conscious that 
some men are getting something for nothing — because they are 
becoming conscious that a few people, in piling up enormous for- 
tunes, are taking advantage of conditions which, morally, are un 
sound and not to l)e justified — for that reason we are here. 

Speaking before the American Institvite of Criminal 
Law and Criminology Chief Justice J. B. Winslow of 
Wisconsin said : 

The democracies which are coming propose to place both legis- 
lative and executive power directly in the hands of the people or 
under their immediate control, so far as that may be possible. 
The democracies of the past have limited the electorate to male 
citizens; the democracies which are coming will without doubt 
welcome to the electorate female citizens on equal terms, not as a 
privilege, but as a means of eternal justice and right. 

The direct primar}-, the initiative and referendum, the recall, 
the equal suffrage movement, the election of United States sen- 
ators by popular vote, the presidential preference primary — all 
these movements, whether yet adopted or only agitated, are simply 
manifestations of the overwhelming democratic spirit of the time. 

How are we to make sure of that high quality of citizensliip 
which will be necessary in such a domncracv as we shall havef 



28 LaFuM tTTK.S WlNM.Nd OK WISCONSIN 

This question is probably not capable of an authoritative 
answer in a single word, nor shall I attempt to give one, but the 
word which the moving finger of progress is today writing is the 
word "Service." 

For centuries individualism has been the keynote of civiliza- 
tion, especially in this land which has boasted so loudly of its 
freedom and equality. We have gloried in the idea that every 
man was the master of his own destiny and must fight his battle 
alone; we have seen the struggle for wealth and social distinction 
— nay even for the necessities of life — become fiercer and fiercer, 
and we have x!ondoned the ruthless cruelty and selfishness of it 
all on the ground that all citizens have equal opportunities and 
that the triumph of the strong and the trampling down of the 
weak is but the working of nature 's immutable and righteous 
law. 

But the consciousness that man cannot live for himself alone 
has come at last; the public conscience is awake; we now for the 
first time realize faintly and imperfectly the marvelous signifi- 
cance of the parable of the good Samaritan. We are learning 
who are our neighbors and we are realizing that an injury to one 
of the least of these is an injury to society as a whole. 

It was an opportune time for the launchinjx of a new 
movement. The sixty-first congress, then passing out 
of existence, had manifested a most stubborn and ap- 
parently wilful disinclination to meet the demands of 
the hour. It was this congress Avhich. with the aid of a 
pliant president, had enacted the repugnant Payne- 
Aldrich tariff law ; which had, in effect, placed the seal 
of approval upon bribery by retaining Senator Lorimer 
in his seat; which by "whitewashing" Secretary Rallin- 
ger had condoned his acquiescence in the bold designs 
of the Morgan-Guggenheim syndicate upon the resources 
of Alaska; which had voted down the amendment for 
the popular election of United States senators ; which 
had long resisted giving Arizona statehood b(H»ause of 
its progressive constitution, and wliicii had tried hard to 
weaken the Sherman anti-trust law in favor of the rail- 
roads and succeeded, in spite of the gallant fight of its 
jjrogressive members, in setting up the comnicrce coui-t 



The Repubi.icax IxsuiHiii.vT Movkmext 29 

between the interstate commerce commission and the 
people. If charity spare this congress the characteriza- 
tion of "infamous," history can scarcely fail to ascribe 
to its leaders that lack of vision proverbially attributed 
to those whom the gods would destroy. 

As a cause, however, the progressive movement in the 
republican party was formless, sporadic and unrelated 
in its various activities until taken in hand by the organ- 
izing genius of LaFollette, who soon had its largely un- 
directed enthusiasm turned into effective channels. 

After a number of preliminary meetings at the home 
of Senator LaFollette, 1864 Wyoming avenue, Washing- 
ton, the National Progressive Republican League Avas 
formed January 21, 1911. It is not too much to say then 
that in this house was formed the nucleus of Avhat was 
to be the new progressive party of a year later. 

The league promulgated a simple platform, the sub- 
stance of which was contained in its first declaration: 
"The object of the league is the promotion of popular 
government and progressive legislation." To that end 
it set forth as its objects, and pledged to aid wlierever 
it could, legislation looking toward the direct election 
of United States senators, direct primaries in the elec- 
tion of all public officials, presidential preference pri- 
maries, the initiative, referendum and recall and corrupt 
practices laws. 

While the platform was silent on this point, it was 
denied by its members that the purpose of the league 
was to advance or oppose the personal fortunes of candi- 
dates. Nevertheless it was an open secret that many of 
the prime movers in the organization of the league were 
primarily interested, whether selfishly or otherwise, in 
the man rather than the cause, and felt intuitively that 
one moral effect of the movement would be to further 
the prestige of its real leader. Senator LaFollette;. It 
were safe to assume also that back of some of its mem- 



oO L \Fiii 1 1 ri i.s \Vi.\M.\(; ok W'isi onsin 

hors the iin]M'lliii<: inotivc was a desire to inflict venge- 
ance on President ^af t for supposed injuries ; of others 
the hope of more speedy preference through new author- 
ity. However, that Senator LaFollette might have a 
free hand in pending legislation, and to disarm the 
charge which might otherwise be made that the real pur- 
pose of the league was to advance his presidential candi- 
dacy, the Wisconsin senator was not made an officer of 
the league nor placed upon any of its committees. The 
following were elected officers of the league: 

President — Senator Jonathan Bourne, Jr., Oregon. 

First Vice President — Representative George W. Nor- 
ris, Nebraska. 

Second Vice President — Governor Chase S. Osborn, 
Michigan. 

Treasurer — Cliarles R. Crane, Chicago. 

Executive Committee — Senator Moses E. Clapp of 
Minnesota, Senator Joseph L. Bristow of Kansas, Rep- 
resentative E. H. Hubbard of Iowa, Representative 
Irvine L. Lenroot of Wisconsin, Representative-elect 
William Kent of California. Gifford Pinchot of Penn- 
sylvania, George L. Record of New Jersey, and the presi- 
dent, vice presidents and treasurer, members ex-officio. 

The following Ignited States senators were among the 
original signers : Jonathan Bourne, Jr., of Oregon, Al- 
bert J. Beveridge of Indiana, Joseph L. Bristow of Kan- 
sas. Norris Brown of Nebraska, Albert B. Cummins of 
Iowa, Moses E. Clapp of ^linnesota, Joseph ^I. Dixon of 
Mf»ntana. A. J. Gronna of North Dakota, Robert M. La- 
Pollotte of Wisconsin. State governors among the first 
signers were: Chester TI. Aldrich of Nebraska. Joseph 
M. Carey of Wyoming, Iliram W. Johnson of California, 
Francis E. McGovern of Wisconsin, Chase S. Osborn of 
Michigan and W. R. Stubbs of Kansas. 

ATembers of congress to be allied with the league were: 
ll<'iii-y AII'Mi ('()(ii»(M', Willi.'im J. Carv. John ^I. Nelson. 



Thk Republican Lnsukhkm Movkmknt 31 

Irvine L. Lenroot and E. A. Alurse of Wisconsin ; C. K. 
Davis and C. A. Lindbergli of Minnesota; E, H. Hub 
bard and G. N. Haugen of Iowa; Victor Murdock and 
E. H. Madison of Kansas; George W. Norris of Ne- 
braska, and Miles Poindexter of Washington. Other 
signers were Alfred L. Baker of Illinois, Ray Stannard 
Baker and Louis D. Brandeis of Massachusetts, Chas. 
R. Crane of Illinois, Frank L. Dingley of Maine, James 
R. Garfield of Ohio, Hugh T. Halbert, George S. Loftus 
and James A. Peterson of Minnesota, Francis J. Ileney 
of California, Fred S. Jackson (congressman-elect) of 
Kansas, William Kent (congressman-elect) of Cali- 
fornia, William L. LaFollette (congressman-elect) of 
Washington, Gifford Pinchot of Pennsylvania. Amos 
Pinchot, Clarence Jones, Frederic C. Howe and Gilbert 
E. Roe of New York, W. S. U'Ren of Oregon, Merle D. 
Vincent of Colorado and William Allen White of 
Kansas. 

Former President Roosevelt was early visited by a 
delegation from the league and invited to join, but cau- 
tiously declined to do so, giving as his reason "that it 
might develop that he could be of better service to the 
progressive cause as a free lance." 

Senator LaFollette was generally recognized through- 
out the country as the accepted leader of the new cause. 
Sketches, studies and portraits of him filled the news- 
papers and magazines even to far-off Australia. He was 
deluged with congratulatory letters conveying apprecia- 
tion and affection, literally tens of thousands of them 
being added to his already great wealth of similar testi- 
monials — a wealth to appal the future compiler and his- 
torian. Indeed the measure of fame and affection con- 
tained in these letters might well lead any recipient to 
contemplate with composure the denial of any further 
favor of fortune. One correspondent, for instance, 
among the thousands, a minister by the^vay, wrote : 



LaFom.kttk's Win.n'Ino ok Wisconsin 

■"In some ways this battle for political and coiimicrcial 
righteousness is more important than the battle under 
Ijincoln for union and freedom. Fight! There must bo 
no quarter in this contest. Save the union if the party 
is lost! Keep your plume white and as in the past stand 
for righteousness at any cost. My blood thrills at the 
opportunity you and those with you have of opening 
the way for the people's escape, and T like to think of 
you as prophets of God sent for the deliverance of the 
l)eopl<' and to furnish an example to all nations of heroic 
faith." 

Congressman A. J. Gronna of North Dakota happily 
i-eflocted the scntinuMit of these professions of admiration 
and devotion when he said: "Senator LaFoUette is the 
most popular man in North Dakota ; but as we cannot 
elect him T'nited States senator there I have decided to 
seek the senatorship myself and to enroll myself under 
his banner." 

Designed primarily, ])ut not exclusively, to be con- 
fined in its aims Avithin the republican party — as La- 
FoUette 's similar organization in Wisconsin had been — 
the new movement spread with great rapidity, and in- 
dications Avere that it was in a fair way soon to have 
taken over the principal machinerj'' of the party, •when 
it was diverted in large portion by the Roosevelt move- 
ment away from the old organization it was designed to 
reform. 

It may be here cited as a double irony of fortune that 
not only was the new movement to be thus diverted from 
its most constructive and promising leader, but the plat- 
form of the new progressive party was likewise to be 
largely drawn by Wisconsin hands and along lines which 
the legislation and education inspired by the LaFollette 
movement in his own state had shown to be most prac- 
tical, and in accord with the spirit of the times. 



CHAPTER II 

Granger Legislation in Wisconsin. 

Exploitation of Resources of State — Railroad And Lumber 
Interests Active in Politics — Potter Law First Strong At- 
tempt at Railroad Regulation — Gov. Taylor 's Great Fight — 
Celebrated Court Decision — Potter Law Repealed and Rail- 
roads Regain Power. 

JL T may well be doubted whether the political movement now 
known everywhere as progressive republicanism could have been 
successfully inaugurated if it had not been for the long and des- 
perate struggle to secure for the people the right to participate 
directly in the choice of candidates and to control the policy of 
political parties in states like Wisconsin and Iowa. 

In Wisconsin a young man, born upon a farm near the capital 
of the state, educated in the public schools and in the state uni- 
versity, trained in the pjrofession of the law, gifted as an orator, 
with a natural aptitude for the public service, and, above all, en- 
dowed with a courageous heart and a genius for labor and re- 
search, awoke to the fact that the whole political life of the state 
had become a mere agency of great business corporations, many 
of them non-residents, and that no man, however qualified to 
serve the community, had any chance to do so without an alliance 
with the political machine which, they controlled. The situation 
was intolerable to this eager student of popular institutions. It 
appeared to him to forecast the end, if not of our form of gov- 
ernment, at least of its spirit and substance. 

There are few chapters in our political history more instructive 
than the record of this man's activities during the years follow- 
ing. He dealt with the stern realities of their case. He demanded 
the reform of the ancient system of nominations by caucus and 
the substitution of the direct primary. He brought the great 
railway systems doing business within the state, together with 
their attorneys and other dependents, to the bar of public opinion 
for judgment; and while bribery and the hardly less odious cor- 
ruption of railway favors defeated him in the next state conven- 
tion, he kept up the fight, enlisting under his standard thoughtful 
and intelligent citizens, and especially the young men, until at 
length he overpowered the oligarchy which for forty year- hac. 

3 



34 LaFollette's Winning of Wisconsin 

handed out the honors of a great political party with the compli- 
ments of the private interests which directed the government of 
the state. — United States Senator J. P. Dolliver in The OutJonlc. 
1910. 

In the great commercial expansion following the civil 
war and the deadening of sensibilities resulting from 
that cruel episode, it was natural that corruption and 
dishonesty in our political and commercial life should 
appear. All hasty growth has in it the elements of 
danger and decay. All were glad to have the great and 
destructive struggle ended and eager to return to peace- 
ful pursuits. The generall}^ disorganized condition of so- 
ciety and affairs naturally presented many openings for 
the unscrupulous and greedy, many short cuts to wealth 
and i)ower which the bold and designing were quick to 
seize. And so great was the reaction of relief that the 
few protests now and then raised at prevailing practices 
too often fell upon an unresponsive public ear. There 
was little disposition to be critical. The blundering and 
lamentable policy pursued toward the south following 
the death of Lincoln tended also to keep alive the fires 
of sectional hatred and a feeling of apprehension, a fact 
which further served to confuse the public mind with 
reference to issues really vital and which designing poli- 
ticians were not slow to turn to their advantage. Too 
often all that was necessary in order to direct attention 
from scandals was to wave the "bloody shirt" and in- 
voke party loj'-alty to lay the bogie of another southern 
uprising. 

It mattered not that the south was completely pros- 
trate ; the spectre of rebellion was industriously conjured 
up and exorcised. Even the credit mobilier and other" 
railroad scandals of the Grant administrations, by which 
Blaine and so many other public men became tainted, 
were not sufficient to inspire any substantial moral and 
political revulsion. The tremendous prestige given the 
republican party through its successful prosecution of 



Graxgeb Legislation in Wisconsin 35 

the Civil war and the abolition of slavery, coupled with 
the utter incapacity of democratic leadership to combat 
it, afforded a security to men in power most dangerous 
to the public good and invited irregularity and corrup- 
tion. The giving of land grants and other concessions 
with a lavish hand, the carrying of elections by money 
and violence, the awarding of extortionate contracts, and 
the creation of innumerable new offices were features of 
legislation and administration. 

As in national, so in state affairs ; the same conditions 
were reflected. The great natural resources of the com- 
monwealths, for instance, were permitted to be exploited 
by lavish hands. In Wisconsin the exposure of the rail- 
road bond scandal of the Barstow administration had 
operated to prevent a repetition of like coarse transac- 
tions, but the practical gifts of great tracts of public 
domain to railroads and lumber interests went merrily 
forward. 

An inevitable result of this policy was the building up 
of families and corporations of great wealth, who real- 
izing that the sources of their fortunes and power lay 
in the political machinery of the commonwealth were 
jealous to retain their control over such machinery. The 
lumbering and railroad interests were naturally the first 
to develop great power and influence in the state. From 
the beginning of the state's settlement, as has been the 
history of practically all pioneer communities, the part- 
nership of politics and big business had been cementing, 
the lumber interests and the railroads dividing up the 
legislative and administrative offices among themselves 
and the lesser interests. 

At first all legislation of this era was in the direction 
of the exploitation of natural resources under the claim 
of creating opportunity and increasing population. 
Lands — even those of the schools and the university — 
were given away to railroads or sold to individuals at 



36 LaFollettk's Winning of Wisconsin 

such nominal rates that often a single tree alone was 
worth ten times the price of the acre on which it grew. 
Water power and public utility franchises were granted 
lavishly with no regard to state or municipal rights or 
the interests of the future. There was a rush for the 
spoil, as it were, all along the line. Everywhere the cry 
seemed to be, "Here's opportunity; jump in!" 

As time went on and opportunity became more and 
more circumscribed the tendency was to intrench big 
property and to gradually close the door on the general 
public. Hence much of the legislation of this period 
was either directly in favor of monopoly or contained 
"jokers" making harmless to corporations laws which 
seemed designed in the general interest. To effect these 
ends it required gradually finer, smoother and abler 
bosses and lobbyists, and centralization of management, 
until in later years legislative operations were found to 
be largely influenced by a big municipal boss of Mil- 
waukee, with the state chairmen of the two great politi- 
cal parties as his principal lieutenants, a trio whose 
union was bound the more securely by a "division of 
spoils" which gave each the headship of one of the three 
principal public utility monopolies of the metropolis. 

Naturally with the falling off of the forests, the lum- 
bering industry could not be expected to maintain its 
prestige. With the railroads it was another story; they 
would grow in wealth and power, and the consciousness 
of this fact naturally gave thoughtful people ^ause and 
turned their minds to the necessity ultimately of some 
regulation of the agency so useful in the public service 
and so necessary in the development of a new country, 
but which had in it possibilities of greatest menace if 
not administered on the lines of strictest justice to all 
the people. 

It was said to have been the boast of the railroads that 
no legislation unfavorable to them had been enacted for 



Granger Legislation in Wisconsin 37 

years and that none could be enacted in "Wisconsin. And 
this doubtless was the feeling of the great mass of the 
people of the state as well. The proposition of railroad 
regulation, for instance, required years of education be- 
fore it took root in their minds as a practical possibility. 
Forgetting the fact that the railroads derived their fran- 
chises from the state and were answerable to it for their 
conduct, the common people had come to regard them 
, with an awe that bordered almost upon superstition. 
They were practically held to be unassailable institu- 
tions. Their rights were supposed* to be superior, not 
only to the individual, but to the whole public. If they 
chose to ride roughshod over private property in laying 
out their lines it was regarded as futile to question their 
right or think of redress. They were greater than tlie 
state; they could do no wrong; all apparent injustices, 
the discriminations in freight, the destruction of one 
town for the upbuilding of another ; the arrogance of 
self-sufficient service, must have their justification some- 
where; must in some scheme incomprehensible to the 
lay mind redound to the general good. The theory that 
the state could grapple with these mighty interests ; that 
it had any business to, was regarded by many as a Quix- 
otic dream,^ while the idea that anyone outside of a rail- 
road office could fathom or comprehend their extensive 
business, their methods of operation, their technicalities 
of bookkeeping, was regarded as the grossest presump- 
tion. An air of profound mystery surrounded the busi- 
ness and made the task which later administrations pro- 
posed assume mountain proportions. 

The first serious effort at anything like thoroughgoing 
regulation of the railroads came with the historic 
granger movement and the advent of the Taylor admin- 
istration in 1874. This movement — brief and unique as 
it proved — was to be most significant to the state and 
nation and has been styled "the unwritten chapter in 
the so-called story of Wisconsin." 



38 LaFollette's Winning of Wisconsin 

Although from the time of the close of the civil war 
the governors of Wisconsin, in their messages to the 
legislatures, had called attention to the complaints of 
the people over the oppression of the railroads, it re- 
mained for Governor Taylor to take up the question of 
regulation with a vigorous hand. Following the presen- 
tation of his message, a strong and unusual paper for 
the time and in which he pronounced against discrimina- 
tions, free passes, combinations of parallel lines and 
other abuses, the legislature enacted in the face of a 
powerful lobby, the "So-called "Potter law," which lim- 
ited passenger rates, classified freight and regulated 
prices for its transportation, and provided for a railroad 
commission of three members. 

A tremendous protest went up from the railroads, and 
the press under their influence, at this act. On April 
29, 1874, the very day after the law went into effect, 
formal notices were served on Governor Taylor in the 
executive office itself by Alexander Mitchell, president 
of the Chicago, Mihvaukee & St. Paul railroad, and Al- 
bert Keep of the Chicago & Northwestern company, that 
their roads would "disregard so much of the law as at- 
tempts to fix an arbitrary rate of compensation for 
freight and passengers." 

This unparalleled arrogance of the ofiicials of these 
great corporations created a profound sensation. Gov- 
ernor Taylor promptly issued a proclamation, invoking 
the aid of all good citizens, and announcing that he 
would employ the full power of the state to enforce com- 
])liance with the law. 

Proceedings were also begun in the supreme court to 
annul the charters of the railroads should they persist 
in their course, and injunctions were asked to restrain 
the companies from disobeying the law. In the litiga- 
tion following the state found itself confronted with an 
array of legal representatives from the standpoint of 



Granges Legislation in Wisconsin 39 

ability and reputation never before matched in its his- 
tory, including such men as W. M, Evarts and Charles 
O'Connor of New York, E, Rockwell Hoar and Benjamin 
R. Curtis of Massachusetts. The contest attracted the 
attention of the entire nation. Upon the result in Wis- 
consin depended the vitality of much similar legislation 
in neighboring states and Governor Taylor and his asso- 
ciate representatives of state authority were thus com- 
pelled to bear the brunt of a controversy of national ex- 
tent and consequence. The contention extended to both 
state and federal courts ; the main question involved 
being the constitutional power of the state over corpora- 
tions of its own creation. 

In an opinion of great length and remarkable power, 
written by Chief Justice Edward G. Ryan, whom Gov- 
ernor Taylor had recently appointed, the state was on 
September 25 that year granted the injunction sought. 
On the subject of corporation regulation Chief Justice 
Ryan said: 

"It comports with the dignity and safety of the state 
that the franchises of corporations should be subject to 
the power that grants them, that corporations should 
exist as the subordinates of the state which is their 
creator. ' ' 

In all respects the state was fully sustained in its posi- 
tion and ultimately judgments were rendered against 
the corporations in all the state and federal courts, in- 
cluding the supreme court of the United States, estab- 
lishing finally the complete and absolute power of the 
people, through the legislature, to modif}' or altogether 
repeal the charters of corporations. 

But, although beaten in the courts, the railroads had 
another recourse for retrieving their losses and making 
a mockery of the people's will. The defeat of Governor 
Taylor was decreed and that official, bravely as he had 
stood for the people and the laws, was subjected to un- 



40 LaFollette's Wix.m.n(; oi' Wisconsin 

measured ridicule and abuse by a large proportion of 
the press of the state, then so mightily influenced by the 
railroads through the potency of the pass and other 
favors which also Governor Taylor had declared against. 

Enormous sums of money Avere spent to influence pub- 
lic opinion. Stories were invented that Governor Tay- 
lor had sought with paltry sums to bribe members of the 
legislature to support his legislation and in derisive ref- 
erence to one such alleged attempt he was called "Ten- 
Dollar Bill." The same course was pursued toward the 
other officials who took a stand with Governor Taylor. 
United States Senator Matt H. Carpenter, who gave an 
opinion fully sustaining the Potter law long before the 
supreme court decision came down, was unmercifully 
denounced as '"iNIatt, the Kobber," "the American Karl 
Marx, ' ' etc. 

To frighten the people and embarrass the administra- 
tidu. the railrf)a(ls stoppinl work on the lines they were 
building and otherwise curtailed their activities. 

The desired effect was obtained. A sort of panic 
seized upon the people. The result of all this was that 
Governor Taylor was defeated by a narrow vote, he 
alone of his ticket being beaten. The next legislature 
repealed the Potter law, notwithstanding that it had 
been sustained in all the courts, and the railways thus 
again established their supremacy. 

Not only was Governor Taylor subjected to the hu- 
miliation of a lone defeat for daring to stand firm for 
ixtpular rights, but insult was added to injury. In a 
succeeding legislature a resolution was derisively 
adojited requesting him to bring back an old wall map 
of the state which had hung in the executive office and 
which he had taken with him to his farm home near 
Madison. Here was irony, indeed, and refinement of 
pei*secution, asking the fallen champion Avho had sought 
to save the people tlieii- niillidus to return an old wall 



Granger Legislation in Wisconsin 41 

map. To Governor Taylor's credit, be it said, he shamed 
his mockers by himself walking into the executive office 
and returninp- the map in person. 

It is an eloquent commentary on the conditions then 
prevailing that the railroads were thus able to snatch a 
victory out of the very jaws of defeat. The easy and 
blind relinquishment by the people of a victory complete 
at every point proved anew the great power the railroads 
and other big interests had acquired and pointed the 
moral that follows from temporizing or compromising 
once the victory has been won. 

It had its other lessons, one of which was the neces- 
sity of wise leadership, and the importance of avoiding 
mistakes to retard or set back a movement once under- 
taken. Governor Taylor was a strong man for his time. 
He had certain excellent qualities, stubborn honesty and 
high courage, but lacked in the best qualities of leader- 
ship and had other limitations that kept men from him. 
He had not the genius to fuse the variant, disorganized 
support he first received into an effective fighting ma- 
chine, nor had he the constructive ability later so strik- 
ingly shown by LaFollette in a similar situation in build- 
ing his reforms wisely and well upon basic essentials. 
So, while he fought his good fight to victory, he was un- 
able to make secure its fruits, and the "anti-railroad" 
movement suffered such a repudiation and setback that 
it took thirty years to regain the ground he had won— 
and lost. 

Governor Taylor was destined to outlive his brief emi- 
nence for three decades, and, ere he died friendless and 
alone in a charitable institution, was to witness the final 
vindication of his course and the practical and effective 
application of the principles he had helped to establish. 
This was finally to come with the advent of the LaFol- 
lette movement. 



CHAPTER III 

The LaFollette-Sawyer Incident. 

Sensational Bkeak Destined to Have Important Later Re- 
sults — Statements of Sawyer and LaFollette as to Cause of 
Trouble. 

W NE clay in the fall of 1891 the people of the state were 
startled to learn that Judge R. G. Siebecker of Madison 
had announced that because of matters that had come 
to his attention he could not try the so-called treasury 
cases which were scheduled to come before him. 

The purpose of this work is to consider but a decade 
of the political history of the state, the period inclusive 
of the LaFollette agitations and administrations, but as 
an incident leading up to this action by the court had a 
profound influence and bearing on the man and the 
movement that followed it can scarcely be disregarded 
in anything like a comprehensive survey of the period. 

Marking the practical entry of LaFollette into state 
politics, and involving as it did also a number of figures 
later to become prominent in the great factional strife, 
it was of more than passing significance. This incident 
was the break between United States Senator Philetus 
Sawyer of Oshkosh and Mr. LaFollette. 

Through a political blunder of the republican legisla- 
ture in enacting the so-called Bennett school law, which 
aroused the resentment of the foreign-born elements of 
the state, the democrats had slipped into power in 1890. 
Anxious to make a record for efficiency before the people, 
and at the same time embarrass the opposition party, 
the democratic administration through Attorney General 
O'Connor brought suit against th-e former republican 



LaFollette-Sawter Incident 43 

state treasurers and their bondsmen for interest on state 
moneys for twenty years back, which in the easy prac- 
tices of the times the treasurers had been loaning out to 
favored individuals and corporations and retaining the 
interest. 

As the bondsmen of former Treasurers H. B. Har- 
shaw, E. C. McFetridge and others, Senator Sawyer, 
Chas. F. Pfister and other members of the old republican 
organization would be liable for large sums were the 
state to win the cases. So much in a preliminary way. 

The Siebecker announcement caused a sensation. In- 
stinctively the public concluded some tampering had 
been attempted with the wheels of justice. But Sie- 
becker refused to talk. Attempts to get him to declare 
specifically the innocence of certain interested parties, 
that through the process of elimination the truth might 
be thus ascertained, all failed. 

The newspapers began speculating. October 25 the 
Chicago Times printed a startling story suggesting the 
probability of attempted bribery in the Wisconsin case 
and stating that were such found to be the fact the 
prison doors of Wisconsin might yawn for some people 
of prominence. Two daj^s later a prepared interview 
from Senator Sawyer was printed in the Milwaukee Sen- 
tinel and the big mystery which had agitated legal and 
political circles was lifted. 

The influence or motive that inspired Sawyer to give 
out the interview and the merits of the quarrel between 
the two men have been subjects of much controversy and 
will continue to be as long as any interest is taken in the 
case. For the benefit of the present day reader who may 
have such interest the Sawyer interview and the one by 
LaFollette which followed are herewith reproduced. The 
Sawyer statement follows : 

Some time about the 20th or 25th of Septemberj'Mr. Harshaw 
and his attorney, Mr. Felker, asked me if I would not see Mr. La- 



44 LaFollette's Winning of Wisconsin 

Follette for them and said that they would like to engage me in 
looking up certain documents and to attend to certain matters in 
the treasury cases at Madison. They also wanted to learn from 
Mr. LaFollette whether Judge Siebecker was prejudiced against 
Mr. Harshaw on account of the latter 's opposition to his (Sie- 
becker 's) appointment as judge. I was coming to Milwaukee to 
the state fair and I telegraphed Mr. LaFollette, asking him if he 
would meet me there. He answered that he would. I saw him 
at the Plankinton house and told him what Mr. Harshaw and 
Mr. Felker asked me to do, and for them I offered him a retainer 
of $500, but no money was paid. I told him they wanted him to 
look up certain records and documents at Madison. I also told 
him they were anxious to learn whether Judge Siebecker had 
any prejudice against Mr. Harshaw for the reason above. Mr. 
LaFollette said that Judge Siebecker was a fair-minded man; 
"that he had talked with him on the subject and that he was sure 
that the judge would not let the fact that Harshaw had opposed 
his a])pointment have any weight with him in the treasury suit. 
I told Mr. LaFollette that was all I cared to know on that sub- 
ject, that he had given me all the information I wanted. But 
Mr. LaFollette said he thought it would not be^advisable for him 
to take a retainer, as Judge Siebecker was his brother-in-law. I 
then said to him that I agreed with him, that it was not proper 
and it was the first I knew tliat they were brothers-in-law. I told 
him that if he was employed an improper construction might 
be put upon it and that therefore he was right in thinking it un- 
advisable to appear in the cases. If I had known he was a 
brother-in-law of Judge Siebecker 's I wouldn 't have proposed it. 
I can't believe that Mr. LaFollette has ]uit any improper in- 
terpretation upon my conversation with him. If he has he has 
certainly misunderstood me or misconstrued what I said. At the 
time of the conversation he certainly made no such intimation to 
me, nor can I believe that anything I said to Mr. LaFollette could 
be construed to mean that I sought through him to influence the 
action of the court. Such a thing never entered my mind. It is 
impossible also for me to think that my conversation with Mr. 
LaFollette is the basis of Judge Siebecker 's refusal to sit in the 
case. I think tliere must be something else, for there certainly 
was nothing in the conversation I have referred to that was not 
V perfectly proper. 

LaFollette felt that Sawyer's dismissal of the matter 
that had startled the whole state called for a statement 



LaFoi.lette-Sawyeb Incident 45 

from him. The implied charge by Sawyer's friends of 
megalomania in LaFollette if left ^^nchallenged would 
leave him (LaFollette) ridiculous. It was a critical mo- 
ment. If he disputed Sawyer's explanation it meant 
war ; and, further, if not complete, ostracism by the rul- 
ing party powers; misunderstanding and the estrange- 
ment of many friends. He announced his intention of 
replying to Sawyer. His friends, however, demurred at 
this. Nevertheless, he prepared his reply and took it to 
Horace Rublee, editor of the Sentinel. Rublee also ad- 
vised him of the gravity of the act, not only to himself 
(LaFollette) ?nd to Sawyer, but to the party, and called 
in his friend, Judge Dyer, attorney for the Northwestern 
Life Insurance company. After hearing the interview. 
Dyer is reported to have said : 

This is oue of the saddest moments of my life. Sawyer has 
been an old friend of mine; he brought about my appointment 
to the federal bench. This will mean a split in the republican 
party in Wisconsin. It will mean ostracism for Mr. LaFollette. 
But (turning- to Rublee) you must print the interview. 

The interview was printed. It read as follows : 

To the Editor of the MUwaulcee Sentinel: ^ 

Madison, Wis., Oct. 28. — The publication of an interview with 
Senator Sawyer in the Sentinel of yesterday was first seen by me 
in Milwaukee shortly after my arrival in the city upon business 
early yesterday morning. The interview purported to make public 
a conversation which occurred at the Plankinton house in Mil- 
waukee on Thursday, September 17, between Senator Sawyer and 
myself concerning my employment as an attorney in the case of 
the State of Wisconsin against H. B. Harshaw, Philetus Sawyer 
and others. After reading the interview and before leaving the 
city I ascertained that the statement was authorized by Senator 
Sawyer. 

The interview was a false one, and not a true statement of 
what transpired and I can not remain silent and permit it to 
stand uncontradicted. Today I requested Judge Siebecker's sanc- 
tion to speak and received it. After his announcement in declining 
to try the case, I felt bound in courtesy as an attorney and officer 
of his court to respect his judgment that a trial should first be 



46 LaFollette's Winning of Wisconsin 

had. But the conversation as Senator Sawyer details it, leaves 
me no choice but to declare the facts at this time and in this 
manner. 

On Tuesday morning, September 15 last, I received a letter 
from Senator Sawyer of which the following is a copy: 

"Dictated: 

"Oshkosh, Wis., Sept. 14, 1891.— Hon. Eobert M. LaFollette, 
Madison, Wisconsin. My Dear LaFollette: I will be in Mil- 
waukee at the state fair on Thursday. I have some matters of 
importance that I would like to consult you about that escaped 
my memory yesterday. If convenient can you be in Milwaukee 
on that day and meet me at the Plankinton liouse at 11 o'clock 
A. M.? If not on that day what day would suit your convenience 
this week? Please answer by telegraph. All you need to say if 
you can meet me that day is merely telegraph me ' Yes. ' If 
not, simply mention day you can meet me. Yours truly, 

' ' Philetus Saw^yer. -' ' 

The letter was typewritten upon a single page of office paper, 
letter size. The top part of the sheet was torn off, leaving only 
the printed words, ' ' Dictated, Oshkosh, Wis. ' ' The reference in 
the letter to Mr. Sawyer 's having seen me the day before it was 
written related to our having met on Sunday, tlie 13th of Sep- 
tember, at Neenah, Wis., on the occasion of the funeral of Hon. 
Chas. B. Clark. At that time I met Mr. Sawyer between one and 
two o'clock just as we took a carriage, together with Hon. N. D. 
Fratt and Hon. L. B. Caswell, to go from the hotel to the resi- 
dence of Mr. Clark. From the residence we went immediately after 
the services at the house, by the same conveyance to the cemetery, 
and on the return Mr. Sawyer left us at the depot to take the 
train for Oshkosh. 

Late in the afternoon of the day upon which I received tlie 
letter I wired to Sawyeu, ' ' Yes, ' ' and on Thursday went to Mil- 
waukee and found him awaiting me at the Plankinton liousc. 

He said: "I have no room; could not get one; they are so 
crowded, but come up to tlie parlor. I think we can talk there. ' ' 
I went with him to the parlor on the second floor. It is a large 
room. There were two or three occupants sitting near the entrance 
when we went in. I did not observe them afterward, but believe 
there was no one in the room but Mr. Sawyer when I left it. 
When we entered he led the way to the corner of the room most 
remote from the entrance, where we sat down near each other. 
Ho began by saying: "I liave put you to some trouble and ex- 



LaFollette-Sawyeb Incident 47 

pense to meet me here, Mr. LaFollette, but I wanted to see you 
bad." 

I replied : " It is a matter of no consequence. ' ' 

He said : "I asked you to come here because I want to talk 
with you about Siebecker and the treasury matter. Harshaw has 
made such a fool of himself in the newspapers and besides that 
he opposed the appointment of Siebecker as judge. ' ' 

I interrupted to say: "There is not the slightest reason to 
give that a thought. ' ' The newspaper interview in which Harshaw 
said that Siebecker was the only judge in the state that he would 
not be willing to have decide his case, was published some time 
before any case was commenced, prior to the service of any pap^s. 
I said to Siebecker: "I think Harshaw was not himself when that 
interview was published, and if he was it was probably due to 
some irritation which existed in his mind toward me at about that 
time owing to the removal of one of his friends from office on my 
recommendation and his remembrance of our relationship in that 
connection. Of course, it will make no impression upon you. ' ' 
Siebecker said : ' ' Certainly not. I never knew Colonel Harshaw 
personally in my life and there is no reason why I should pay any 
attention whatever to such a printed statement." That is the 
only conversation I have had with Siebecker in reference to these 
eases or anything connected with them. As to Harshaw 's oppos- 
ing his appointment as judge, I never heard of it and don 't be- 
lieve Siebecker ever did and -it would make no difference to him 
anyway. He is not that kind of a man. ' ' 

Mr. Sawyer replied: "Well, he did oppose his appointment. Of 
course, I did not know whether Siebecker knew it or not. I don't 
know Siebecker, don 't think I ever saw him in my life. But I 
want to know what kind of a man he is." 

"Well, Mr. Sawyer," I said, "you know Judge Siebecker is 
my brother-in-law, that he was formerly my law partner and you 
are likely to get a somewhat biased opinion from me; but I will 
try to say for him only what I think any attorney of Madison would 
say. He is a young man but a strong lawyer. He has had but a 
limited experience as judge. Since he has been on the bench he 
has made some mistakes, maybe more than his share, but I think 
not. He is a close student and does lots of hard work on his 
cases. He is a liberal-minded man, has a judicial temperament, 
and it is impossible for him to be a partisan politically or other- 
wise and everyone who knows him vnll tell you that he is an 
honest man. Now I don't believe there is a man at the bar in 



48 LaFollette's Winning of Wisconsin 

Madison, Judge Pinney, who I believe is one of your attorneys, 
or anyone else, -who wouldn "t say as much as that of him. ' ' 

Mr. Sawyer said : ' ' Pinney was employed by iis to give an 
opinion in the case but I knew you would know all about Siebecker 
and I wanted to see you about him. These cases are awful im- 
portant to us in the state and we can not afford to lose them. Ii 
costs me lots of anxiety. I don't want to have to pay (naming a 
large sum of money, whether $100,000 or more I am not certain). 
New I came down liere to see you alone. No one knows I am to 
meet you liere. I don't want to hire you as an attorney in the 
case, LaFollette, and I don't want you to go into court, but there 
is ^fty dollars, I will give you five hundred more, or a thousand, 
or five hundred more and a thousand (I am not certain which he 
said) when Siebecker decides the case right." 

I said to him : ' ' Senator Sawyer, you can 't know what you 
are saying to me. If you struck me in the face you would not 
insult me as you insult me now. ' ' 

He said : ' ' Wait — hold on. ' ' I was standing up. I replied : 
"No, you do not want me as an attorney. You want to hire me 
to talk to the judge about your case off the bench. ' ' 

He said : "I did not think you would take a retainer in the 
case. I did not think you would want to go into the case as an 
attorney. How much will you take as a retainer ? ' ' 

I answered : ' ' You have not got money enough, sir, to em- 
ploy me as an attorney in your case, after what you have said to 
me." 

He replied : ' ' Well, perhaps I don 't understand court rules. 
Anyway let me pify you for coming down here. ' ' 

I said: "Not a dollar, sir," and immediately left the room. 
I think he followed me out of the parlor and down the stairs; 
but he did not again -address me, nor did T again speak to him. 
I passed at once out of the hotel. 

I did not make these facts public, believing that innocent de- 
fendants would suffer without cause. I immediately disclosed just 
what had taken place to close personal friends and stated to them 
that I believed it my duty to report the matter to the court before 
the case was called for trial. In this I did not act without de- 
liberation, nor without wise counsel. I subsequently submitted a 
full statement to the court a few days before he announced his 
determination not to try the case. 

Yovy respectfully, 

Robert M. LaFollette. 



LaFollette-Sawyeb Incident 49 

If the Sawyer interview proved startling the LaFol- 
lette reply directly charging Senator Sawyer with at- 
tempted bribery proved even more so, and the criticism 
and denunciation which LaFollette and friends feared 
he had invited descended upon his head. A half dozen 
years later the Miiu'dxkee Journal in an editorial depre- 
cating the fight certain papers were making on LaFol- 
lette for opposing the ruling political regime said of the 
incident : 

li]verybo(ly knows that LaTdllette is not the aggressor, hwi 
that he was selected for slaughter when he refused to carry out 
the wishes of the party boss in the treasury cases. For a time it 
appeared that the Madison man 's career had been ruined. In 
looking over the files of the republican press of that day, we find 
that with hardly an exception LaFollette was condemned in un- 
measured terms by the organs. All kinds of accusations were 
made against him as if he, instead of the boss, were the guilty one. 
It was freely charged that the Madison man was getting ready to 
go o\cr to the democratic party, and that he had already made 
his arrangements with the opposition. Hardly a republican news- 
paper in the state had one kind word to say of him for his heroic 
defense of his honor. But the rank and file of the party under- 
stood the service LaFollette had done them and all the other tax- 
payers of Wisconsin by refusing a _price for trying to unlock the 
back door of a court of justice, and they did not forget him. It 
was as certain as that the sun would shine that he would sooner 
or later be called to leadership. The Journal warned the organs 
then that such a time would come. It is here, and the condition 
of things cannot be changed by alleging that he is making fac- 
tional warfare. He is but the instrument in the hands of the 
justice-loving members of the party. The bosses see the hand- 
writing on the wall and that is why they tried to buy him off with 
the comptrollership of the currency. Twice now LaFollette has 
refused to sell himself. May he continue to fight off infamy. 

LaFollette felt keenly the criticism visited upon him. 
Many of h^s friends questioned the wisdom of his course. 
Prof. "W. H. Williams of the University of Wisconsin 
voiced the views of many when he said: "He has at- 
tempted a big thing in inviting a question of veracity 
with so mighty a man as Sawyer. He'll need all his 



50 LaFollette's Winning op Wisconsin 

nerve now. ' ' Many former friends treated him with un- 
mistakably more reserve than usual ; others ostracised 
him completely. 

For the time being the controversy ended, and La- 
Follette devoted himself wholly to his law cases. Finally, 
threatened with nervous breakdown, he went to South 
Dakota, where he owned some land, and for three months 
built up his health with outdoor work. 



CHAPTER IV 

The Haugen Candidacy for Governor. 

LaFollette Organizes Revolt Against Old Party Leaders — 
Reveals Astonishing Organizing Capacity — First Big Clash 
OF Republican Factions — Upham Nominated — New Leader At- 
tracts Marked Attention. 

J_/ITTLE by little a feud had sprung up between La- 
Follette and the managers of the republican state or- 
ganization. As a member of the house, the young con- 
gressman had proved unwilling to take directions from 
Payne, Sawyer and other leaders of the party to whom 
it was customary to pay deference. Now his refusal to 
protect the secrets and feelings of Sawyer in the treas- 
ury matter was considered unpardonable by the party 
managers and it M^as decided to complete the overthrow 
of his defeat for congress by eliminating him from any 
position of influence in the party. 

In accordance With this program, the party machinerj^ 
of Dane county, which he, as a member of congress, had 
grown to control, was in 1892 taken out of the hands of 
his friends and the chairmanship given to Roger C. 
Spooner, a brother of Senator John C. Spooner. LaFol- 
lette 's last ground was captured. He was completely 
outside the breastworks. When he attended the repub- 
lican national convention at Minneapolis as a spectatoTv 
with his friend S. A. Harper, in 1892, he was made to 
feel by the state politicians present that he was to enjoy 
no confidences nor be considered in the making of any 
arrangements for the campaign. 

In previous campaigns he had been eagerly sought by 
party chairmen to speak throughout the state and al- 
though the new state chairman of that year, Henry C. 
Thom, w'as his personal friend, LaFollette received no 



52 LaFollette's WiniNing of Wisconsin 

invitation to assist in the campaign that fall, notwith- 
standing that it was a presidential year and a critical 
time for the party. 

Resolved, however, to maintain himself as a political 
factor, he wrote to Mr. Thom offering his services. Mr. 
Thom soon afterward called upon LaFollette at his office 
and said he had been advised to not put him in the field, 
owing to the feeling against him. Thereupon LaFollette 
promptly declared that he would make his own arrange- 
ments. Rather than have that done. Chairman Thom 
placed him on the list of speakers and his meetings 
proved the usual great successes. 

LaFollette saw that to live in Wisconsin politics it 
would be necessary to make peace with the party ma- 
chine or make war upon it. Burning with his still un- 
quenched, youthful enthusiasm; indignant at the ostra- 
cism and censure visited upon him because of the Saw- 
yer affair ; confident of his powers, and eager to remedy 
in some degree the sordid political conditions prevailing, 
he resolved upon the latter course. His design was no 
less than the ambitious one of taking the governorship 
out of the hands of the "machine." 

LaFollette seemed peculiarly called and fitted to lead 
and carry through successfully a reform movement in 
the state, not only because of his great native talent and 
qualities, but because of the abrupt turn in his personal 
fortunes caused by his defeat for congress in 1890. Now 
scarcely across the threshold of teeming manhood, and 
burning for achievement, he was relegated to the state 
field through an election defeat, followed by a gerry- 
mander of his district to prevent his return to congress. 
It is an interesting subject of speculation as to whether 
or not the reform movement in Wisconsin would have 
materialized into success, or the form and time it would 
have taken, had LaFollette retained his seat in congress. 
A period of purely state service was not in the schedule 



Thk Haugen Candidacy for Governor 53 

of his admiring friends, who saw in perspective a dis- 
tinguished career for him in the United States senate, 
little dreaming of the tremendous upheaval he was to 
bring about in the state before being consigned to that 
somewhat archaic limbo of high abilities and political 
hopes at Washington,^ 

Events seemed to have conspired, however, to bring 
him into the new field and accordingly early in 1894 he 
signalized his return to active politics by standing spon- 
sor for the candidacy of Nils P. Haugen for governor. 
As usual he had taken time by the forelock. In Novem- 
ber, 1893, he wrote to Congressman Haugen asking him 
to call at Madison on his way to Washington. When 
Haugen came LaFoUette broached to him the proposi- 
tion of a fight upon the organization with Haugen as the 
candidate for governor. Haugen represented the old 
Eighth Wisconsin district in congress and was the only 
republican member to withstand the democratic land- 
slide of 1890. Mr. LaFollette had served with him in 
congress and had come to regard him highly because of 
his large abilities and his patriotic and feai'less stand fo^ 
public interests. A popular and brilliant representative 
of the Norwegian nationality, a strong vote-getter and 
a public official with an excellent record, he was believed 
to be the most efifective candidate with which to assault 
the intrenchments of the ruling powers. 

When the gubernatorial proposition was first sug- 
gested, Haugen pointed out the apparent hopelessness 
of the undertaking, the lack of funds, the power of the 
organization, etc. However, he consented to let LaFol- 
lette write to the latter 's old university friends and 
others to ascertain their sentiments in the matter, La- 
Follette sent about a thousand letters to such friends 
throughout the state asking them to join in requesting 
Haugen to run. Afterward Haugen met LaFollette at 
Chicago and they spent a day at the Grand Pacific hotel 



54 LaFou-ette's Winning of Wisconsin 

going over the letters. The responses were quite en- 
couraging and after another conference at the LaFollette 
home in Madison, attended by Mr. and Mrs. LaFollette, 
Mr. Ilaugen, S. A. Harper, General George E. Bryant 
and H. W. Chyiioweth, Ilaugen consented to sacrifice 
his congressional prospects and make the run. There 
was no illusion about it. "It will probably mean the 
loss of your seat in congress and j^our defeat in the con- 
vention," said LaFollette, "but the cause demands some 
sacrifice on our part; and there is a half chance to win." 
LaFollette agreed to take all responsibility in the man- 
agement of the campaign and to make it a vigorous one. 

The campaign that followed is an interesting chapter 
in the story of LaFollette, for he was here to reveal for 
the first time on a broad scale his variability of genius 
as a winner and organizer of men — that native endow- 
ment by which he was to rise from the lowest point, fol- 
lowing his humiliation bj'' the party leaders, to be the 
great commanding figure of the state, and the beginning 
of which ascendancy he had to make without money or 
patronage at his disposal, without a newspaper and with- 
out social or political alliances of influence. 

The ])rightest figure in all history is the revolutionist 
— the leader Milling to risk his all in the great cause to 
make over the world for humanity. 

There was about LaFollette even then a persuasive 
hypnotic power whicli it was difficult to resist. Mr. Len- 
root said in later years: "I did not want to be a candi- 
date for governor in 1906, but when LaFollette asked 
me, how could I refuse?" It was a characteristic tribute. 
Of LaFollette. more than of most public men, can it be 
said that he increased his social and political assets with 
each new meeting with a fellow man. The words of 
Count de Segur on Napoleon 's charm of manner may be 
here recalled as not inaptly fitting the later political 
general now rising : 



The Haugen Candidacy for Governok 55 

When he wanted to persuade there was a kind of charm in 
his deportment which it was impossible to resist. One felt over- 
powered by his superior strength, and* compelled, as it were, to 
submit to his influence. It was, if it may be so explained, a kind 
of magnetic influence, for his ardent and variable genius infused 
itself entirely into all his desires, the least as well as the greatest; 
whatever he willed all his energies and all his faculties united to 
effect; they appeared at his beck, they hastened forward and 
obedient to his dictation, simultaneously assumed the forms which 
he desired. 

It has been a serious question with many people 
whether or not, at least in its first years, the LaFollette 
reform movement was inspired by any other motive than 
the personal ambition of LaFollette. But to whatever 
degree his personal ambitions were the inspiration of 
the uprising, it must be said/lie had a remarkable facil- 
ity or fortune in making himself and his cause inter- 
changeable in the public mind, making it possible for 
him to press his propaganda while his friends rather 
urged support of the man. 

A flood of stories and yarns has come down from this 
interesting period and the years immediately following, 
showing the compelling enthusiasm Avith which he drove 
forward his cause, and revealing a facile personality to 
explain in large degree the sway he exercised over the 
minds and hearts of his almost idolatrous fellows. 

It is an interesting if not significant fact that LaFol- 
lette 's propaganda first took root, and his cause received 
its first substantial support, among the Norwegians of 
Wisconsin. He was shrewd enough early to get the sup- 
port of the widely read Chicago Norwegian paper 
" Shandinaven." That his dashing effort to secure the 
election of Congressman Haugen as governor strength- 
ened him immensely with the nationality is not to be 
doubted, but LaFollette has always been close to the 
Norwegian heart, for the reason that he understands and 
appreciates it as do few politicians and students even 
within the nationality. He was brought up in a Nor- 



56 LaFoi.lette's Winning of Wisconsin 

wegian community ; he can to an extent speak the tongue, 
and with an almost faultless accent; in short, he knows 
the Norwegian nature and temper. This kinship of feel- 
ing was strikingly reciprocated in the later campaign of 
1900 when out of 241 votes cast in the town of Scandi- 
navia in Waupaca county, LaFollette received all but 
one, a phenomenon deserving to rank with that of 1910 
when the republicans of Wisconsin actually nominated 
a dead progressive above a living rival for one of the 
highest of state offices. A further and not unamusing 
incident may be here recalled. At a banquet of the 
Scandinavian legislators in Madison in 1901 the gov- 
ernor was present as a guest, and in the course of the 
evening was playfully informed that he was suspected 
of possessing Norwegian blood. Prof. Julius E. Olson 
M'as speaking and related the inspiring story of the bat- 
tle of Stiklestad, in Norway, in 1030, where the old and 
the new civilizations — paganism and Christianity — met 
and where Tord Folleson, the heroic standard bearer of 
the new cause, when mortally wounded, pressed forward 
with the flag and rammed it into the earth before sinking 
to death beneath it. Not long before, said the speaker, the 
northmen had descended upon France, wrested a fair 
province from its weak ruler and built up that Norman 
influence destined to color all future civilization. The 
names Folleson and LaFollette, he said, looked suspi- 
ciously alike. What was more natural to infer than that 
the governor's forbears may have been among that dar- 
ing band of adventurers and institution builders, the 
Normans? Blood would tell even longer. Tord Folleson 
determined that the flag should stand even if the man 
had to fall. So with the governor ; he, too, could be re- 
lied upon to advance the flag even if he fell beneath it. 
(Great applause and cries of "Sk^al!") 

But there is another important factor to consider in 
this connection — the Norwegian love of liberty. Ever 



The IIaugex Candidacy for Governor 57 

since the grim bonders of Throndhjem compelled King: 
Haakon to eat horseflesh and showed their contempt of 
another tyrannical prince hj slaying him and electing 
his dog to the throne, the Xorwegian peasant has been 
jealous of the encroachments of privilege and po^ver on 
his rights. / Having long enjoyed a liberal representative 
form of government, the nationalitj' is also keenly alive 
to its civic responsibilities and familiar with the opera- 
tions of government. In fact a large proportion of the 
immigrants from Norway have determined before -'com- 
ing over" with what political party they intend to affili- 
ate. / This fact combined with its inherited love of lib- 
erty would tend to make the nationality favorable 
ground for sowing the seeds of revolt against privilege 
in government. The Norwegian uprising in Wisconsin 
a decade and a half ago is not unlike that which swept 
Norway three quarters of a century ago and which re- 
sulted in the driving out of an oppressive official class — 
an inheritance from the Danish union — and the substi- 
tuting of peasant members of parliament, some of whom, 
like Ueland and Jaabek, ''wrought their people lasting 
good." In this connection, as has been iioted,/LaFol- 
lette was fortunate in his early campaigns in having the 
support of the big Norwegian papers circulating in Wis- 
consin, like the Skandinaven of Chicago, and the Tidende 
of Minneapolis. The Skandinaven was won over to La- 
Follette in 1900 by a delegation which included former 
Congressman Haugen, John L. Erickson of Superior and 
others. It is said that when this delegation went into 
the office to see John Anderson, the publisher of the 
Skandinaven, they met Henry C. Payne of Milwaukee 
coming out from a like conference with Anderson with a 
view of lining up the paper against LaFollette. When 
this latter delegation, however, informed Anderson that 
the Norwegians of Wisconsin were pro-LaFoUette and 
That the Minneapolis Tidende was making capital of that 



58 LaFollette's Winning of Wisconsin 

fact Anderson threw the support of his paper to LaFol- 
lette and continued to support him in all his campaigns 
for the governorship/ 

In 1906, however, it was a different story. It is said 
that Anderson promised LaFollette and Lenroot that 
he would support the latter in his campaign for governor 
as against J. 0. Davidson, the so-called Norwegian can- 
didate, and that only on that condition would Lenroot 
consent to make the race. Then it is said that Anderson 
sent out a number of letters as "feelers," and found 
that the Lenroot candidacy would not take among the 
Norwegians on account of the temporary anti-Swedish 
sentiment growing out of the dissolution of the union 
of Sweden and Norway of the year before. Accordingly 
the Skandinaven remained largely neutral through- 
out this campaign, only occasionally damning Lenroot 
with faint praise, and Davidson was nominated. 

Although the so-called Germans of Wisconsin form a 
very heavy voting element, they have not been so potent 
a political factor as have the Norwegians so-called. In 
spite of the fact, too, that many of them came here as 
exiles, imbued with the revolutionary spirit of '48. La- 
Follette's cause made slow headway with them at first. 
It was not that they were a servile class, although, being 
more accustomed to tyranny than the Norwegians, they 
could bear a degree of villeinage with less unrest. The 
German is as jealous of his rights as is the Norwegian, 
but the conception of liberty is different in the two 
minds. ^ The Norwegian watches his political libertj'- 
jealously, the German, his personal liberty. / The 
summum honum in the German mind has too often been 
"personal liberty," and the possible deprivation of this 
right has been the bugaboo which the shrewd politician 
has often conjured up to "swing the German vote." 

It was not until time had proved that LaFollette's 
crusade did not comprehend designs on this cherished 



The Haugen CANDroACY for Governor 59 

right — and the German language — that they came over 
to the support of the movement. Once over, however, 
they became a bulwark of strength to it, as demonstrated 
in the Milwaukee movement in 1898. 



One day LaFollette was visited by a man who had 
stumped the entire west in the interests of the people's 
party and who had been one of the "intellectuals" in 
the first Oregon movement in the '90s. Said the 
stranger : 

' ' Our movement has gone down ; I am a man without 
a party." 

' ' The time for great souls is when all is lost. You be- 
long with us," said LaFollette. 

"But I believe in the initiative and the referendum. 
Can I be a republican and hold such views?" 

"You can; I believe in them myself." 

"I am also for the popular election of senators." 

"So am I." 

"I also favor government ownership and control of 
railroads. ' ' 

"We may have to come to that; but we must first ob- 
tain and try railroad regulation. If that fails the people 
will no doubt take over their common carriers." 

"But I am against monopoly-breeding tariffs, although 
I am a protectionist. Can I hold such views and still 
be a republican ? ' ' 

"I am also a protectionist, but favor a tariff that, in 
general, shall measure the difference between the cost of 
production at home and in competing foreign countries. ' ' 

' ' I had not thought of tariff legislation in that light, ' ' 
said the visitor. "If I can be that kind of a republican 
I am with you. I am happy to again take up the fight." 



60 LaFollette's Winning of Wisconsin 

LaFollette has been ever ready to give with regal free- 
dom of his time and the riches of his mind whenever 
anj^one has sought his counsel. For instance, until the 
time of his election to the United States senate he regu- 
larly drilled university oratorical contestants free of 
charge. The writer recalls vividly also how when an 
obscure student in the university he called at the law 
office of the future governor and how the latter spent 
two or three hours — forgetting his supper in the meaii- 
time — in presenting the necessity for, and outlining 
with large forevision, the reforms to which he was re- 
solving to set his hapd and Avhich in the main have since 
been crystallized into law in the state and are now being 
adopted in the nation. It was a great task for which he 
was preparing to gird on liis armor and to the writer the 
undertaking seemed akin to the wildest of dreams, but 
of his absolute sincerity mid \\\c disinterestedness of his 
motives there seemed no room for dou])t. 

The devotion which LaFollette inspired in the young 
colleg'ans wlio fd! uiiloi- Irs K'«vn- amounted almost to 
fanaticism and in certain instances the manifestations 
of their enthusiasm took on amusing and fantastic forms. 
Could the history of the Lincoln club, an ephemeral or- 
ganization formed two decades ago, be written it would 
make entertaining reading in this respect. This was an 
organization of university students formed, not for the 
extension of LaFollette propaganda, whieli had not yet 
assumed concrete foi-m ; but to Imild w]^ a LaFollette 
following in the state and to deliver Ihcii- respective 
sections over to LaFollette candidates. .\t their weekly 
meetings in a small room in the university the boys sol- 
emnly discussed the jpossib'lities of victory and tlie lines 
of campaign mos.t practicable, and each pledged himself 
to carry his home county for tlie cause. Even the utter- 
most corners of the state were involved in this compre- 
hensive scheme and iti several instances counties were 



The Haugen Candidacy for Governor 61 

assigned to shy and beardless youngsters who had never 
been within their borders. Not a few of the boys set out 
on this children's crusade never to be heard from again 
until years afterward, although some of them have since 
risen high in the councils of the state and nation and in 
their professions. 



As illustrating LaFollette's persuasive power the fol- 
lowing later story — a favorite recitation of Roger M. 
Andrew 's — is remembered : One old man who for years 
had driven all over Dane county in the interests of the 
governor finally went to him to ask a favor in return. 
He wanted the governor to ask the congressman of the 
district to recommend him for postmaster at Clifton's 
Corners. "It is asking quite a favor, I know," said the 
aspirant in his humility, too honest to know that he had 
earned it ten times over, "but if you could do this for 
me I would feel very grateful." 

The governor lovingly put his arm about the rounded 
and dusty shoulders of his visitor and turning his ardent 
eyes upon those of the farmer, piercing the rural soul 
to its innermost depths, said in a voice eloquent with 
sympathy and affection : 

"Nels, nobody appreciates more than Bob LaFollette 
what you have done. You have often been in my 
thoughts. I know the sacrifices you have made ; how 
you have driven all day and ridden through blinding 
storms at night to cheer and further our cause. I know 
how you have neglected your crops ; how you have spent 
your money ; how you have had to bear the scorn and 
enmity of your neighbors for the sake of principle. All 
these things I have seen and I have admired you and 
held you up as the finest type of citizen and patriot — 
the bulwark and hope of the state and nation. Without 
your brave and unflagging support in the dark and criti- 



62 LaFollette's Winning of Wisconsin 

cal times we have had I am afraid our cause might have 
gone down. 

' ' You are deserving of something infinitely better than 
a paltry postoffice and I have often wondered how I 
could reward you in a manner to meet your high deserts. 
But now it grieves and embarrasses me deeply that I 
must ask you to defer your request till some happier 
future time. I had long marked you as the man that 
should have this postoffice, but quite unexpectedly Gen- 
eral Brj^ant has come and asked me to give it to one of 
his friends. General Bryant, you know, has been a 
second father to me. It was he who took me up when 
friendless and penniless I was about to quit the 
university. He gave me money, clothes and best of all 
his friendship and sound counsel. He has been my 
friend ever since, standing by me in storm and shine. 
It was he who first sent me to congress. He has labored 
for the party year in and year out ; you know how man- 
fully he has stood for our reforms when so many of the 
old wheel horses of the party had gone over to the enemy. 
Now for all that he has done for me I feel that I could 
not refuse this gallant old veteran any request that he 
might make. Yet here I am in a conflict between love 
and duty. I leave it to you if it is not an embarrassing 
sit .'"' 

It was as far as the governor got. The old man had 
risen to his feet, his eyes suffused with emotion. "Give 
it to the old general," he said hoarsel3^ "If you don't 
Bob LaFollette will never get another vote from me. 
What is there I can do next?" 

Another later incident in point is the following : 
During one of the earlier LaFollette campaigns a Grant 
county stockbuyer who had been an ardent supporter of 
LaFollette had the misfortune on election daj^ to fall 
under a train while on the way to Chicago and have an 
arm crushed. He was placed in the baggage car for 



The Haugen Candidacy for Governor 63 

medical treatment. The next morning one of his neigh- 
bors on the train hearing of his plight went into the 
baggage car to condole with him. ''Good gracious, old 
boy, what has happened to you?" said the visitor sym- 
pathetically. "Oh, just a little accident, that's all," 
replied the victim. "Say, how did Bob come out?" 



LaFollette had that invaluable politician's stock in 
trade, an almost unerring memory for names and faces. 
It was actually believed by some that he had an uncann\ 
power in this respect, and the yarn is told that to test 
him a farmer from Dunkirk once took to Madison a 
neighbor whom LaFollette had never seen nor known. 
LaFollette gripped the hand of the unknown, and peer- 
ing keenly into his face said: "Yes, let's see, you're 
Jim Simpson, aren't you?" "No," replied the visitor 
with a grin, "but I know Jim; I bought a horse from 
him last week." "Oh, yes," replied LaFollette. "I 
knew there was something between you. It was that 
handsome gray, wasn't it?" he continued, brushing off 
some gray hairs that had accumulated on the ruralite's 
shoulders. 

"It was, all right!" said the farmer in utter aston- 
ishment. LaFollette had unconsciously saved his repu- 
tation by playfully taking a long chance on some stray 
gray hairs. 

A similar story has it that once when LaFollette had 
concluded a lecture in a western city a grizzled listener 
present walked unsteadily up to the platform where La- 
Follette was receiving, surrounded by a group of fash- 
ionable men and women, and slapping him familiarly 
on the back called out in a high key, "Well, neow, I'll 
bet you don't know who I am?" LaFollette had not 
seen his interrogator for twenty years, but the man's 
name came to him like a flash, and he replied, "Yes, I 



64 LaFollettk's Winning op Wisconsin 

do; you're 8o-and-So and used to live near Mt. , 

didn 't you ? ' ' 

"Wall, neow, lieow the thunder did you remember me 
anyheow?" went on his questioner, with a shoreless ex- 
panse of grin on his florid countenance. Drawing the 
old man's head down that the rest of the company might 
not hear, LaFollette replied with a twinkle: 

"Because you've got the same old jag on." 

And yet there are those who say that LaFollette has 
no wit nor humor. Some years ago an excellent maga- 
zine writer of New England, after himself describing 
an incident which had set the whole country laughing, 
viz., LaFollette 's defeat of Gallinger for president pro 
tem of the senate, said solemnly: "He hasn't a par- 
ticle of humor. His friends say that lie has, but they 
haven't any themselves." 

However, it should be remembered that this scribe 
had just been discussing this supposed side of the Wis- 
consin statesman with the writer of the present work 
and a former editor of the university funny paper. 



The same day that Mr. Haugen's candidacy was an- 
nounced Horace A, Taylor of Madison ("Uncle Hod"), 
editor of the Wisconsin State Journal, former state sen- 
ator and former chairman of the state central commit- 
tee, also came out as a candidate for governor. 

Dane county thus became a hot battlefield. LaFol- 
lette resolved "to move heaven and earth," he said, to 
carry it for Haugen, not only because of the prestige 
its heavy representation would give his candidate in the 
convention, but since it was his (LaFollette 's) home 
county, it would not do to have simplj^ the prophet's 
honor abroad. His pride was further challenged by the 
fact that the county organization had been taken out 
of the hands of his supporters two years before. But 
Dane countv was also the home of Mr. Tavlor and of 



The Haugex Candidacy for Govek.xok 65 

"Boss" Keyes and the Spooners, all leagued in the com- 
mon canse of resisting LaFoIlette's recapture of the 
county. In full understanding with Sawyer and Payne, 
it is said, they brought out numerous local candidates 
' ' to gather in the provinces, ' ' an old political trick, often 
a successful one ; however, destined to fail in its general 
l)urpose tliis time, as it failed again on a larger scale 
when attempted in 1900 for the defeat of LaFoIlette's 
nomination for governor that year. In addition to the 
candidacy of Mr. Taylor of Madison for the governor- 
ship, T. C. Lund of Stoughton was urged for secretary 
of state, Halle Steensland of Madison for state treas- 
urer, H. C. Adams of Madison for railroad commis- 
sioner, Ralph C. Vernon of Madison for state prison 
warden, while two Madison lawyers were encouraged to 
groom themselves for the position of assistant attorney 
general and two other prominent residents of the city 
for that of assistant superintendent of public property. 
With this combination of influence they succeeded even- 
tually in carrying the cities of Madison and Stoughton 
against Haugen./ This nerved LaFoUette to greater ef- 
forts to carry the country districts. 

The contest was sharp from the beginning. LaFol- 
lette won, as so many battles have been won, by a spir- 
ited dash. Through quick action he succeeded in get- 
ting caucuses held in certain towns before the opposition 
could organize and thus carried them for Haugen. At 
this the charge of "snap caucuses" was raised, a familiar 
cry in later years. The LaFollette-anti-LaFollette fac- 
tionalism in the republican party in Wisconsin may thus 
be said to have had its first clash of arms in Dane county. 
It sounds familiar to read of the republicans of the town 
of Perry on June 7, 1894, adopting a "hurl-back-with- 
scorn" resolution against the charge of "snap cau- 
cuses." This was probably the first resolution marking 
the factional alignment now impending in Wisconsin. 



66 LaFollette's Winning of Wisconsin 

Many were the sharp caucus practices resorted to also. 
In seme localities it was a trick of the "half-breeds," 
as the LaFollette followers came to be called, to arrange 
beforehand to seat their following near the door, and 
thus force the opposition to some other quarter. It is 
a usual situation at public gatherings that a greater or 
less number of spectators, idly curious and otherwise, 
stand about the doorway. Accordingly when the house 
rose in questions of division these "innocent spectators" 
could be counted in with the half-breeds of which they 
would seem to form a part. When the chairman hap- 
pened to be of the half-breed persuasion questions would 
be put in such form that his side had the first vote and 
accordingly such spectators were not counted for the 
other side. It was in vain for the opposition to protest ; 
the chairman having once entered upon such tactics 
could be depended upon to carry them through. 

An acrimonious warfare was carried on in the local 
press. Mr, Taylor charged that John M. Nelson and 
Walter S. Hidden, state employes, drew pay and did no 
work, to which Hidden retor^d in public print that 
Taylor, as United States railwaj' commissioner, took a 
junketing party to California at government expense 
and that a future member of his (Taylor's) family was 
carried on the public pay roll at a large salary and did 
no work. 

With the Madison papers all opposing him, LaFollette 
flooded the county with personal letters. Always a be- 
liever in the l.beral use of printer's ink, he established 
a literary bureau in his law office and here personally 
dictated the thousands of letters sent out. 

LaFollette infused his infectious enthusiasm into the 
caucus campaign. Night riders galloped from farm- 
house to farmhouse in Haugen's behalf, a new feature 
in. campaigning. After a day of reverses he would write 
cheeringly : 



The Haugen Candidacy fok Goveuxou 67 

"They (the opposition) had their inning today; to- 
morrow we must have ours. Let us make it decisive.'' 

And decisive it proved. Although losing Madison and 
Stoughton, he carried Dane county for Haugen and 
headed the delegation to the M.lwaukee convention. He 
also succeeded in carrying every other county of his old 
congressional district. In much the same manner as in 
Dane was the campaign carried on in other counties. 
Ten candidates for governor were supported at the con- 
vention. As was expected, Haugen was not nominated, 
the machine leaders finally uniting their forces on 
William H. Upham of Marshfield, who was named on 
the sixth ballot, but so unstrung did the organization 
then become that the Haugen forces practically con- 
trolled the remaining nominations. The fact that La- 
Follette in his brief and brilLant campaign and with 
the slenderest financial resources finally carried nearly 
one-third of the delegates for Haugen marked him at 
once as a rare organizer and leader. "We came out of 
that campaign tremendously enthused and stimulated 
for the work ahead," said LaFollette later. 

Particularly was his achievement in carrying Dane 
county, after losing the cities of Madison and Stoughton. 
regarded as a striking example of political generalship 
and staying qualities. It proved LaFollette strong with 
the farmers. 

The old time leaders were given a shock at Haugen 's 
strength. '^ LaFollette was pointed out and sought for in 
the convention.X Many who were later to be among his 
most ardent lieutenants met him here for the first time 
and formed the bond of friendship. Among the dele- 
gates later to become prominent in the LaFollette move- 
ment were Walter L. Houser, H. S. Comstock, Atley 
Peterson, A. H. Long, George E. Bryant, H. W. Chyno- 
weth, John M. Nelson, A. J. Vinje, Ira B. Bradford, A. 
R. Hall, J. H. Stout. J. J. McGillivrav. A. W. Sanborn. 



68 LaFollette's Winning of Wisconsin 

Perry C. Wilder, W. D. Connor, F. A. Cady and A. H. 
Dahl, while among those later to be prominent in op- 
posing LaFollette were J. V. Quarks, M. G. Jeffris, D. 
E. Riordan, John Harris and S. S. Barney. 

It is interesting to note here as marking the old politi- 
cal methods — that of appealing to voters on the glory 
of the grand old party alone and leaving the settlement 
of state issues to politicians — that the platform contained 
only 350 words and had no reference to state issues ex- 
cept this closing paragraph, a shooing of the Bennett 
law bogie : 

"The republican party is a party of religious liberty 
and absolute non-sectarianism, of entire separation of 
church and state, of free common schools, of the utmost 
independence of individual thought, speech and action 
within the law." 

This plank, by the way, appeared in the republican 
platforms of 1896 and 1898 as well, except that in the 
last named year someone sought to improve it by sub- 
stituting for the last three words, "within the law," the 
more prolix form, "consistent with the law and the 
rights of others. ' ' 

The plank marks the backing down of the party on 
the Bennett law issue. The republicans had been silent 
on this issue in 1892, but the democratic victory of that 
year made a declaration advisable in 1894. In 1900 the 
ghost of the Bennett law was finally considered laid and 
the plank disappeared from the platforms. 



CHAPTER V 
LaFollette's First Candidacy for Governor. 

Another Sharp Campaign — Hoard Disclaims Understanding 
OR Deal at Convention — 'Bribery of Delegates Charged — Sco- 
FiELD Nominated. 

A RECRUDESCENCE of the uprising of the LaFol- 
lette-Hangen element in 1896 was inevitable, composed 
as this element largely was of eager, elate young men, 
fired with ideals and enthusiasm, and inspired by the 
strong showing they had made in the previous cam- 
paign. LaFollette was naturally regarded by this ele- 
ment as the logical candidate for governor and in time 
he announced his candidacy. 

That he had retained the grip he had once more ac- 
quired on his old congressional district in 1894 was dem- 
onstrated early in the campaign by his election as a dele- 
gate to the republican national convention at St. Louis. 
Judge E. W. Keyes, former state chairman, had been 
brought out against him, but after LaFollette had car- 
ried every ward in their home city of Madison and every 
county in the district but one, he was chosen by acclama- 
tion. At this national convention he served on the com- 
mittee on resolutions, and also made a speech placing 
in nomination for the vice presidency, Henry Clay Evans 
of Tennessee. 

This national convention was to prove of more than 
passing interest and significance to Wisconsin state poli- 
tics. Although the democrats had obtained a new lease 
of power in 1892, they were defeated in 1894. A roster 
printing scandal proved embarrassing to them and the 
republicans strengthened themselves by repudiating the 
Bennett law and playing heavily on the dramatic mili- 
tary record of iAIajor Upham — thus carrying the elec- 



70 LaFollette's Winning of Wisconsin 

tion. However, once back in power, the republicans pro- 
ceeded to repudiate their generally expressed pledges 
to continue the prosecution of the treasury cases so suc- 
cessfully begun by the democrats. Already nearly half 
a million dollars had been retrieved by the democrats 
and nearly half as much again remained involved. 

It is at this point that Charles F. Pfister, the big Mil- 
waukee boss, enters as an influential factor in state poli- 
tics. Through the influence of a powerful lobby organ- 
ized by him, bills were put through the legislature in 
1895 relieving the state treasurers and their bonds- 
men, and these bills were signed by Governor Upham. 
This action of Upham 's, coupled with the fact that he 
had seemed rather too accommodating to certain inter- 
ests and that certain jealous rivals — such as "Hod" 
Taylor of the Wisconsiii State Journal — were making 
relentless war on him, seemed to the party leaders to 
make Upham almost impossible as a candidate for re- 
election. Accordingly, the machine managers, Sawyer. 
Payne, Pfister and others, met at the Planters hotel in 
St. Louis during the republican convention and selected 
Edward Scofield for the next candidate. 

A sharp campaign followed. LaPollette conducted 
his fight along the lines of the Haugen campaign and 
so successfully prosecuted it that he and his friends be- 
lieved he had a majority of the delegates to the state 
convention. A margin of a dozen votes was claimed 
for him. When the convention opened at Milwaukee. 
August 5th, even the opposition press predicted that he 
would lead in the balloting, as in fact he did the next 
day. A great demonstration following a spirited speech 
in his favor by former Governor Hoard, indicated the 
popularity of the new leader. Before a nomination was 
made, however, adjournment was taken until next day 
and the LaFollette cause, whatever its prospects at the 
time, was thereby lost. Major Scofield was nominated. 



LaFollette's First Candidacy for Governor 71 

LaFoUette has himself frequently told the story that 
his delegates were brutally bought away from him that 
night and his account may well be incorporated here as 
it will aid in an understanding of the political condi- 
tions and practices then prevailing and may help make 
clearer his relentless zeal in the future prosecution of 
his cause. In a speech some years ago, he said : 

I went down to that convention with votes enough instructed 
and pledged to nominate me on the first formal ballot for gov- 
ernor. I had no money to make the fight; I had no fortune that 
had come to me; I had no newspaper. I had the freedom of 
speech that our flag and the principles of our government give 
to every citizen. 

I was not nominated; I just said that I went down there wdth 
votes enough instructed and pledged to nominate me, but I didn 't 
get them voted. Why? I am here to tell you why. Because the 
night before the ballot was to begin, in the room of a United 
States senator, they bought enough of my delegates with money, 
running from $25 to $700 a vote, to defeat me the next day in 
the convention. That is why I was not nominated. 

Did you understand me? I said bought — bought! Now, I 
wouldn 't say that if I couldn 't prove it. By ten o 'clock that 
night delegates began to come to my headquarters in the Hotel 
Pfister, where all the candidates had their headquarters. They 
began to come to my headquarters and tell me that they had been 
taken into the room of that United States senator and had been 
offered various sums for their vote, running from $25 to $700 
apiece, in so far as they reported to me. Of course, nobody came 
over and told me who took the money; it was only those who were 
honest enough to refuse to take it. I took down their statements. 
By midnight I had taken the ctatements of twenty men. 

At midnight one of the great political bosses of the state 
came to my headquarters and said : * ' LaFolIette, I want to see 
you alone." I went into a room with him and he said: "We have 
got you skinned. We have got enough of your delegates to de- 
feat you in the convention tomorrow. Now, we don't want any 
scandal ; we don 't want to hurt the republican party. ' ' The man 
who had been doing all this did not want to hurt tlie repulv 
lican party. He said to me: "We don't want to hurt the repub- 
lican party. If you will behave yourself and keep still, we will 
take care of you when the proper time comes. ' ' 



72 LaFollettb's Winm>g of Wisconsin 

That is their measure of men; every man his price, they tliink. 
No man patriotic in the civil service. Everyone concedes patriot- 
ism when the cannon tliunders, but there can be patriotism in time 
of peace as well as in time of war. Thank God! if that were not 
so, our country could not stand for a day. ^ 

' ' We will take care of you when the proper time comes. ' ' 
Take care of me. Well! I felt then, and I have felt ever since, 
that I could take care of myself. I looked that gentleman in the 
face, and that you may have the record complete, I will tell you 
who he is. Charles F. Pfister, one of the millionaire political 
bosses of Wisconsin, and it was in the Pfister hotel that this trans- 
pired. I want to say to you, fellow citizens, don 't think for a 
moment that I have sneaked off down here to talk about this 
thing. When that convention was over I said to one of the po- 
litical bosses of the state : ' ' You have carried this convention by 
corruption; I have the proof of it here. When the time comes 
to make the best use of that evidence to redeem this state to rep- 
resentative government and crush the life out of your corrupt 
political machine, I will use this evidence. ' ' 

And in 1904, when a bolt had been organized by the so-called 
stalwart republicans of that state, I used that evidence, and from 
every platform in my state, closing in the metropolis of the state 
two nights before the election at Milwaukee in the Exposition 
building, in the presence of 10,000 people who stood until way 
past midnight to hear the discussion, I proclaimed the fact, called 
the roll and named the men and the prices. 

Next day they did exactly what they said they would do. They 
defeated me in the convention. 

Among the men, in addition to those mentioned by 
LaPoUette, who claimed to have been witnesses of brib- 
ery was Robert F. Howard, a Milwaukee newspaper- 
man. He declared that he had seen five men receive 
$50 apiece and offered to give LaFollette an affidavit 
to that effect at any time. 

Bnt there M^ere other men at this convention and other 
incidents that were to prove important factors. The big 
machine managers, Sawyer, Payne, Pfister, Keyes and 
others, were on hand to give quiet and effective direction 
to things. Former Governor Hoard was perhaps the 
most conspicuous of the delegates. The opponents of 
LaFollette had industriously circulated the report of a 



LaFollette's First Candidacy fok Govekaok 73 

deal between LaFollette and Hoard involving the gov- 
ernorship and the next United States senatorship, and 
that in the event of success these two leaders would urge 
the re-enactment of the Bennett law. A dramatic 
speech by Hoard in which he declared that the ghost of 
the Bennett law was laid and in which he denied the 
existence of any deal whatever was one of the stirring 
features of the convention. 

Undeterred by previous failures also, A. R. Hall was 
again on hand with his anti-pass resolution. He had 
presented the same resolution at the convention of 1894. 
but the committee on resolutions had quietly pigeon- 
holed it and it was never heard of again. The friends 
of the pass system now thought to repeat this trick in a 
motion made by H, G. Kress of Manitowoc that all pro- 
posed declarations be referre.d to the committee on reso- 
lutions without reading or debate. But Hall was too 
quick to be caught napping. Jumping to his feet, he 
offered this amendment : 

And all such resolutions not favorably acteil uiioii l)y tlie com 
mittee be reported back to the convention and be open for de- 
bai:e. 

rt was a clever move on Hall's part. It would be a 
dangerous proposition to vote down. The chair (Gen. 
Michael Griffin) hesitated, put the question, and it was 
adopted. But Hall not yet having presented his reso- 
lution, another attempt was made to forestall him by an 
unexpected promptness in reporting the platform. How- 
ever, when the platform had been read and before the 
chair could put the vote for its adoption, Hall was on 
his feet, shouting for recognition. It was impossible to 
ignore him. Receiving recognition. Hall adroitly praised 
the platform which had been reported ; then, as if quite 
by the way, added that the voters of Dunn county had 
requested that he present a resolution to the convention. 
Before Hall could read it, Chairman Griffin promptly 



74 LaFollette's Winning of Wisconsin 

declared him out of order. But Hall held his ground 
and demanded the chair's reason for the ruling. 

"Under a previous motion that all proposed planks 
should first go to the committee on resolutions, ' ' replied 
the chair. Hall answered that the committee had been 
too quick for him, but the chair rapped him out of order. 
Nevertheless, Hall still stood firm and declared that the 
people of Wisconsin had a right to be heard at any time. 

' ' The resolution must go to the committee in the usual 
manner, ' ' shouted the chair and again rapped for order. 

Hall refused to be beaten down. A dramatic scene 
then followed as these two old military and political vet- 
erans, who had fought together at Atlanta, faced one 
another — the gaunt man from Dunn, shaking his spec- 
tral finger and quivering with excitement, and the chair 
coolly and firmly facing the rebellious delegate. The 
breath of battle was in the air as the chair in a ringing 
voice commanded silence and declared: "The sergeant- 
at-arms will enforce order in the convention!" It was 
a moment of suspense and apprehension ; delegates be- 
gan mounting their chairs and many feared blows be- 
tween the rival partisans as Sergeant Zweitusch swung 
dovm the aisle toward Hall. Finally, Hall, still protest- 
ing, was pulled down by his friends and his resolution 
was sent up in written form. This ended the incident 
for the time being ; the platform was adopted and the 
candidates nominated. 

When on the following day, however, the chairman of 
the committee on resolutions asked to recall a notice of 
a meeting of his committee, Hall, scenting another at- 
tempt to shelve his resolution, rose to his feet. With an 
apology to the chair for the incident of the day before, 
he obtained a hearing and again called for action on 
his resolution. 

Another attempt was made to refer his resolution 
back to the committee, but Hall made a fierv demand 



LaFollette's First Candidacy for Governor 75 

that the resolution be acted upon at once. He asserted 
that the people of Wisconsin had voted 50,000 to 600 
at the spring elections the year before for practically 
the same plank and the convention should respond to 
such demand. Declaring that the platform was already 
adopted, but fearful of turning the resolution down, 
the chair finally put Hall's motion and the resolution 
was adopted amid cheers from the LaFollette follow- 
ing. The resolution read as follows : 

Resolved, that it is the sense of this couveution tliat the grant- 
ing of free railroad passes, express and telegraph franks and 
sleeping car permits by the corporations of this state to public 
oiiicers is against public policy and we favor such laws as will 
prevent the same. 

Out of this incident others of striking interest were 
to grow. 

That LaFollette could prove a good loser was shown 
in the campaign that fall, when he threw himself into 
the fight and made twenty-five speeches for his party. 
He closed with a masterly effort in Milwaukee — his first 
speech in that city — the night before election. The Mil- 
waukee Sentinel printed the speech in full and was en- 
thusiastic over the young orator. "He interpolated the 
dry, hard facts of financial history with pathos and 
humor," it said, "and carried his audience with un- 
flagging interest. The speaker walked backwards and 
forward across the stage ; he sat down on the chairman 's 
table and almost stepped from the stage into the very 
midst of his auditors. It was the first time he ever faced 
a Milwaukee audience and yet no one would have sus- 
pected the fact had he not so informed them. He at- 
tempted to draw his address to a close several times, but 
was forced to go on by his hearers. When he finally sat 
down, the great audience rose up and gave three rousing 
cheers for the speaker. Then there was a general rush 
for the stage and for half an hour he was kept busy shak- 
ing hands and receiving congratulations." 



CHAPTER VI 
''Menace-of-the-Machine" Speech. 

Significant Year in LaFollettk Movement — Future Gov- 
ernor Foreshadows Crusade in Chicago Address — Proposes 
Primary Elections — Fern Dell Speech — Begins Speaking at 
County Fairs — Press Greatly Interested in Crusade and Its 
Purpose. 

It LS a distiiif^uishing mark of the benefactors of hu- 
manity, in whatever their field of endeavor, that they 
have always held service to their fellows above sale. 
Favored with superior gifts, it had been theirs to com- 
mand fortune, respectability and influence with little 
difficulty, had they cared to choose the easier established 
ways of society. By choosing not to take such course, 
they often become the martyrs of history, and the very 
fact that they have been unpurcliasable has ever led to 
misunderstanding, to the iini)ugning of motives, to 
charges of egotism and self-seeking. It has been their 
peculiar glory, however, that they have never shrunk 
from paying this inevitable price, of bearing calumny 
and misunderstanding, the dungeon and the stake, for 
the glory of God and their righteous causes. 

In contemplating LaFollette's choosing of a similar 
course the question may occur, has he been sustained 
fidjii the i)ages of history and knowledge of the final 
vindication that has come to the heroes and martyrs of 
the past? It is related that on the taking up of his po- 
litical crusade in Wisconsin he made a study of historic 
movements and uprisings of peoples in other lands and 
at other times, to draw therefrom such lessons of wisdom 
and fortitude as might be obtained. The revolts of 
Grecian and Roman history. Jack Cade's rebellion, the 
Cromwell ian uprising, the American and French revolu- 



"Menace-of-tiik-Machine" Speech 77 

tions, the Chartist movement — these were, it is said, 
among the historical phenomena to which nights of study 
were given. It is a tradition that this was done at the 
inspired suggestion of Jerre C. Murphy, who became 
the first private secretary of LaFollette while governor. 

While the lion's share of credit for the poLtical regen- 
eration of Wisconsin is yielded by all to LaFollette, there 
are, as with all great things, those who claim priority of 
initiative and discovery. 

It is said that before LaFollette took up his crusade 
against the ruling political machine in the state Murphy 
had evolved the theory that the only hope of undoing 
the "machine" was to discover a man of the people, 
and develop in him capacities for leadership, stratagem 
and battle that would in time cause him to prevail over 
the forces of intrenched privilege. He, it is said, came 
to this conclusion from a like previous study of great 
revolts of history and the lives of liberators of peoples. 
He believed he had discovered such a man in LaFollette, 
and whether or not he set the future reformer on his 
crusading career it is said he early urged such course 
upon him and gave such organized impetus to the cause 
as he could. 

The year 1897 looms large in the annals of LaFollette 
and political reform in Wisconsin. It was in this year — 
memorable to him and his cause — that the future leader 
discovered himself and developed the master passion to 
which he was later so unreservedly to give himself. 

Smarting under the humiliation of having his dele- 
gates taken away from him in the convention of the pre- 
vious year, and eager to remedy the sordid political con- 
ditions that prevailed, LaFollette boldly resolved upon 
a campaign for the complete abolition of the caucus and 
convention system. 

In its stead he decided to propose primary elections 
for the direct nomination of all candidates for public 



78 LaFollettes Winning of Wisconsin 

offices, from the lowest to the highest. This conclusion 
he formed only after months of study of the caucus, con- 
vention and election laws of all the states of the union 
as well as those of many foreign lands. There was then 
no thoroughgoing primary in any state, although the 
legislatures in a number of states had begun breaking 
the new ground in sporadic ways, and even the Wiscon- 
sin legislature had enacted a primary system for the city 
of Milwaukee which, however, proved short-lived. La- 
Follette was intelligent and alert enough to discern the 
new movement in its rising. 

Accordingly when invited to give the annual address 
before the University of Chicago on Washington's birth- 
day of that year he made his celebrated ' ' Menace-of -the- 
Machine" speech in which he first publicly advocated 
primary elections for the nomination of all political can- 
didates. Discussing the operations under the Australian 
ballot he said : 

Is there any good reason why a plan so successful in securinj; 
a free, honest ballot and a fair count in the election will not work 
equally well in the nomination of candidates'? 

Then every citizen will share equaFly in tlie nomination of the 
candidates of his party and attend primary elections as a privilege 
as well as a duty. It will no longer be necessary to create an arti- 
ficial interest in the general election to induce voters to attend. 
Intelligent, well considered judgment will be substituted for un- 
thinking enthusiasm, the lamp of reason for the torchlight. The 
voter will not require to be persuaded that he has an interest in 
the election. He will know that the nominations of the party will 
not be the result of "compromise," or impulse, or vile design — 
the "barrel" and the machine, Iiut the candidates of the majority 
honestly and fairly nominated. 

Tt has been declared by opponents of LaFollette that 
while he carried the primary idea to ultimate success, 
the credit of launching the movement in Wisconsin 
should not be his; that his first introduction to the pri- 
mary idea was the Lewis primary bill, introduced in the 
Wisconsin legislature in 1897, ajid that he did not urge 



"Menace-of-the-Machine" Speech 79 

primary reform uutil a year later. In the interest of 
historical truth it may here be said that the Lewis bill — 
the first thorough primary bill introduced in Wisconsin 
— was drawn under Mr. LaFoUette's directions by his 
law partners, S. A. Harper and A. G. Zimmerman, while 
LaFollette was himself writing his Chicago speech. It 
was introduced by Assemblyman Lewis of Racine. 

LaFollette now had something concrete on which to 
base his war on the ' ' machine, ' ' and a definite issue and 
program of his own to offer in place of the outgrown 
practices then prevailing. Finding it necessary to look 
to the plain people for his support, he proceeded to sow 
his propaganda among them and await the harvest his 
faith foresaw. Here then began what may be called an- 
other seven years' war, a campaign that was to continue 
practically unbroken until the fateful, decisive election 
night of November, 1904. 

An interesting and significant incident of this year de- 
serves notice. Realizing that LaFollette and hiS cause 
were rapidly in the ascendancy, some new course to divert 
or unhorse him seemed imperative to the old organiza- 
tion leaders. Fighting him would no longer do ; he was 
becoming too strong. It was thought perhaps a fat fed- 
eral job might quiet him ; many other recalcitrants had 
been eliminated in this way. LaFollette was poor and 
had no organization or connections of wealth behind him. 
He was paying his own expenses while spreading his doc- 
trine. So President McKinley was prevailed upon to 
offer him the post of comptroller of the treasury. The 
salary was $6,000. Acceptance would have shelved him 
effectively and retarded, if not shriveled up, the reform 
movement in Wisconsin. The proffer was made by Sen- 
ator Spooner, but was promptly declined by LaFollette. 
Previous to that time LaFollette had also declined an 
Indian territory judgeship. He had found himself; his 



80 LaFoli.ktte's Winning of Wisconsin 

path la}' clear before him and no charm nor temptation 
could now swerve him from it. 

Invited to give the independence oration July 5 that 
year at Mineral Point, LaFollette gave an address based 
largely upon his "Menace-of-the-Machine" speech made 
previously at Chicago, but in which he also discussed 
state issues in aggressive fashion and attacked the state 
administration's attitude on corporation and taxation 
questions. August 20 of the same year he gave practi- 
cally the same address before a gathering of county re- 
publican clubs at Fern Dell, Sauk county. This address 
became famous as the "Fern Dell speech." In part the 
speaker said : 

Tlie existence of the corporation as we have it today was not 
dreamt of by the fathers. It has become all-pervasive; has in- 
vaded all departments of business, all activities of life. By their 
number and power and the consolidation oft-times of many into 
one, corporations have practically acquired dominion over the 
business world. The effect is revolutionary and cannot be over- 
estimated. The individual as a business factor is disapjiearing, 
his place being taken by many under corporate rule. The business 
man and artisan of the past gave to his business an individual 
stamp and reputation, making high mental worth an essential 
element of business life. Gathered in corporate employ men be- 
come mere cogs in the wheels of complicated mechanism. The 
corporation is a machine for making money, demanding of its em- 
ployes only obedience and service, reducing men to the status of 
privates in the regular army. 

It is but just to say that no legislature has assenihled in Wis- 
consin in many years containing so many good men as the last. 
But when a bill to ]iunish corrupt practices in campaigns and 
elections is destroyed by amendment; when measures such as the 
Davidson bills requiring coriiorations to pay a just share of the 
taxes go down in defeat; when bills to compel hundreds of millions 
of dollars of untaxed personal property to come from its hiding 
place and help maintain government fail of adequate support; 
when rcT ublicans and democrats unite in defeating the Hall reso- 
lution to emancipate the legislature from all subserviency to the 
corporations by prohibiting accejitance of railroad passes, tele- 
gra]ih and express company franks; when these things and many 
others of like character happen and are made matters of public 



"Mexac'E-of-the-Machine" Speech 81 

record which no man may deny, then that man is untrue to his 
country, his party and himself who will not raise his voice in 
condemnation — not in condemnation of the principles of the po- 
litical party in which he believes, or of the great body of its or- 
ganization, but of the men who betray it and of the methods by 
which they control, only to prostitute it to base and selfish ends. 
The remedy is to begin at the bottom and make one supremo 
effort for victory over the present bad system. Nominate and 
elect men who will j^ass a primaiy election law which will enable 
the voter to select directly candidates without intervention of 
caucus or convention or domination of machines. Thus may a 
permanent reform greater even than the reform effected by the 
Australian ballot which has so revolutionized the conduct of elec- 
tions be brought about. Apply the method of the Australian 
ballot as embodied in the Cooper law to the primary election and 
let it take the place of both the caucus and convention. Furnish 
the primary election booth with ballots as under the Australian 
system and print on the ballot for each party the names of the 
different candidates proposed for its nominee as candidates for 
judicial offices are now proposed; provide for the selection of a 
committee to represent each party organization and promulgate 
the party platform through such committee composed of a party 
committeeman elected by and for the voters of each party in 
every assembly district of the state. Provide severe penalties for 
any violation of the primary election law. Prohibit corrupt in- 
fluences in or about the election booth and insure an honest count 
and return the votes as cast. Provide that each man receiving 
the highest number of votes cast in the ballot box of his party 
for the office for which he is a candidate shall be the nominee 
of that party in the general election to follow. In short pass 
such a measure as the Lewis primary election bill. Under this 
system you will destroy the machine because you destroy the 
caucus and convention system through which the machine con- 
trols party nominations. You will place the nominations directly 
in the hands of the people. You will restore to every state in the 
union the government given to this people by the God of nations. 

LaFollette's advocacy of the Australian ballot recalls 
the interesting fact that he was probably beaten because 
of this very instrumentality in the only election in which 
he failed as a candidate at the polls — that of 1890. La- 
Follette has often been beaten in caucuses where popular 
expression has been limited, but only once in the free 

6 



82 LaFollette's Winning of Wisconsin 

field of an election. In the election of 1890 it was gen- 
erally expected that LaFollette would be returned to 
congress, and the friends of the democratic candidate, 
A. R. Bushnell, in conducting a still hunt for him, as a 
rule, conceded this, and asked support for their candi- 
date on complimentary grounds, thus gaining many votes 
they might otherwise have lost. In the election that year 
the republican vote in Dane county alone fell off about 
1,300 from that of 1888, while the democratic gain was 
very slight. Had the full republican vote been cast in 
Dane county LaFollette would have been re-elected. For 
instance, in the five heavy Norwegian precincts in south- 
eastern Dane county — Christiana, Dunkirk, Pleasant 
Springs, Rutland and Stoughton — the republican loss 
from the gubernatorial vote of 1888 was 338, nearly 70 
to a precinct, while the democrats in the same five pre- 
cincts actually lost 11 votes, the democratic vote in 1888 
being 481 while in 1890 it was 470. It is said that in the 
town of Pleasant Springs nearly 70 voters who came to 
the polls did not vote, largely because of a disinclination 
to marking their ballots which then for the first time 
was required under the Cooper (Australian ballot) law. 

It was LaFollette's bold attacks on the administration, 
the masterly vigor and aggressiveness of his speech, in 
general, foreshadowing, as it did, a grim continuation 
of the party warfare of the year before, that made the 
address significant and made him again the cynosure of 
all political eyes. The press of the state was agitated 
and pretty generally took sides for or against LaFol- 
lette. His personality and motives became the subject 
of wide newspaper discussion. His address at the state 
fair at Milwaukee early in September w^s featured in 
full by the Milwaukee Sentinel at the time. 

Under the heading, "Wisconsin's Political Reformer," 
the Chieiujo Tinies-IIcrald, Sejitombei- 27, of that year, 
contained the following interesting study of him : 



t 

"Menace-of-the-Machine" Speech 83 

Robert Marion LaFollette has taken upon himself the her- 
culean task of stemming the advance of corrupt political machine 
domination in Wisconsin state affairs. Propriety compels the 
resurrection of the word reformer to classify him. 

Today LaFollette is the most conspicuous figure in the Badger 
commonwealth. He is a machine smasher of the John Maynard 
Harlan type. He is resolved to show the seamy side of present 
political conditions, and he is succeeding. Other men have tried 
to do so before. They have been gathered to their fathers. Naught 
remains of their endeavors save the memory of their failures. 
LaFollette is going about the work in a way peculiar to himself. 
Up and down the state he is marching preaching his doctrine to 
the common people. His voice is heard and Wisconsin political 
affairs are being shaken from center to circumference. Like the 
fabled opossum, who, when he spied the unerring gunner from his 
gum tree, said "It's no use, major; I'll come down," so the 
bosses of all parties, the men of all shades of political beliefs and 
unbeliefs, have come down to the level of being interested enough 
to assume a listening attitude. None of them but admits that 
the weapon is loaded. None of them denies that the aim is 
straight. All of them impugn the motives of the man with the 
gun. All of them agree that the time is inopportune for pulling 
the trigger. 

The proportions attained by the LaFollette crusade for 
greater purity in politics are due solely and alone to the man him- 
self. Others might have said what he is saying and their words 
would have passed unnoticed. Into the campaign has been in- 
jected the whole of a remarkable personality, a personality so 
vastly different from that of any other that an attempt to com- 
pare it is not comparison, but contrast. LaFollette 's personal 
force and individuality command attention. 

He is a natural leader of men. He got this trait from an 
ancestry that was descended from that iron race of hunters and 
explorers who were living along the highways of the west when 
France handed over 10,000 people and several future states to 
the English beyond the AUeghanies. This life of LaFollette was 
begun in a log cabin on a Dane county farm forty-two years ago. 
Till his eighteenth year his time was divided between farm work 
and attendance upon the district school. Indomitable pluck and 
persistence, to this day his predominant characteris'tics, enabled 
him to work his way through a university course. He was grad- 
uated from the state university in 1879, and after a year of study 
in the law school was admitted to the bar. Two terms as district 
attorney of Dane county and three terms in congress as repre- 



84 LaFollette's Winning of Wisconsin 

sentative of the old third Wisconsin district make the sum total 
of Mr. LaFollette's official career. When in congress he served 
on the ways and means committee with President McKinley, and 
to him was allotted no small portion of the task of drafting the 
famous protective tariff bill. 

LaFollette 's college career was that of a leader among his 
fellows. A signal triumph marked his senior year, when he was 
tlie winner of the interstate oratorical contest. His subject was 
"lago, " one for which he had a natural taste. His oration repre- 
sented something more than a conglomeration of words. It was 
an original, terse and critical interpretation of lago, and it 
l)rought from Edwin Booth the declaration that from it he had 
gained a new conception of that character. The oration was de- 
livered with a force and power that brought the audience com- 
pletely to the speaker and everybody concurred in the unanimous 
decision of the judges that the golden badge of honor be awarded 
him. His secret of his success was his earnestness. It is the same 
earnestness that now makes it possible for him to bring to see 
from his point of view men who before hearing were set against 
him with faces of flint. It is not through his eloquence that he 
captures the people. Neither does he pander to their passion, 
nor play upon their ignorance. But he has the quality of making 
men believe that he is sincere. LaFollette proposes nothing that 
is new. He suggests no great changes in the common or the 
statute law of the land. He simply tells his hearers to see to it 
through the means of the ballot box that the men they select for 
pul)lic servants shall be subservient to them and to them alone; 
that they shall not fall down and worship in meek and humble 
obeisance at the shrine of the political machine or the corporation. 

For his "heresy" in enunciating such propositions he has in 
the last two months endured more personal abuse than falls to 
the lot of most men. His every utterance has been the brunt of 
criticism. His motives have been impugned, his methods attacked, 
but his statements have gone imchallenged. The opposition he 
has encountered has, if anything, made him the more determined. 
He expected it. He had reason to expect it. While no man in 
the state has a more devoted following, no man in the state has 
more bitter enemies. His whole life has been an uphill fight. 
But to him im|)Ossibilities are unknown. His genius is, as Beecher 
said, talent well worked. He knows that he may be checked for 
the time, but he feels sure that success will come in the end. Six 
years ago when the portals of a great career were open to him, 
he had the courage to quarrel with a man who for a score of 
years liad held sway over the political ambitions of all men from 



"Menac'e-of-the-Machine" Speech 85 

Lake Superior on the iiortli to Illinois on the south, from the 
Mississippi to Lake Michigan. The breach was a serious one and 
could never he healed. Everybody said it sounded the deathknell 
of the little Madisonian. That never again would he be heard of. 
They did not know LaFollette. Other men would have sulked in 
their tents. He went into the fight. Always consistent in his 
political beliefs, he fought for his party in every campaign. His 
voice was given to expounding its doctrine, though often he knew 
that every added success of its leaders was another stone in the 
wall tliat was hemming from view his own personal ambitions. 

A year ago Mr. LaFollette announced himself a candidate 
for governor. The men who for years had shaped the policy of 
the party to which he swore fealty did not shake their heads and 
say that it would never do. They did not think they had to. And 
so the campaign was begun. After a while there was a rumor of 
an intimation that the Madison man was making a hard fight. 
This did not worry the machine leaders. They had been in hard 
fights before and had come out unscarred. Soon the caucuses 
were held. Men who had never before attended the primaries 
bega"ii to exercise their prerogatives as citizens. The local leaders 
found it difficult to manipulate their own precincts. Farmers 
drove for miles to vote for LaFoll»tte delegates. Notice of these 
things came to the center of machine domination. When the lead- 
ers opened their eyes they found that a new machine had sprung 
up while they were basking in the sunshine of their own security. 
It was a machine that differed in every respect from the kind 
they had heretofore waged against. It was a machine that urged 
voting before the nomination of candidates as well as after the 
convention had been held. It was a machine that recognized 
every man as a sovereign. It appealed for votes for men because 
of what they had done, not because of what they intended to do. 
It emphasized the equal rights of all under the law, and swore 
allegiance to no one set of men. The old machine girded on its 
armor to give it battle. All of the intrigues of long political ex- 
perience were brought into play. All of the prowess that it 
wielded by virtue of its control was turned against the advancing 
host. The new machine was defeated but not driven back. When 
the tiger-strife was ended the leader of the new power joined 
hands with the old machine in giving battle to a common enemy. 

Since that memorable struggle of ' ' Bob ' ' LaFollette. he is 
said to have a genius for organization. He is a strong believer 
in the power of printer's ink. Into every hamlet and village of 
the state he sent the platform upon which he based the request 
for suffrage. Round about him in his Madison office he gathered 



86 LaFollette's Winking of Wisconsin 

his friends and told them what to do. His was the master mind 
liiat directed it all. He had no money to spend. He would not 
have spent it if he had had it. He made no promises of office 
in event of his success. Yet day after day his fold of supporters 
grew. Men who were opposed to him came to see him. When 
they left they were his friends. If they made a second visit it 
was to bring others. These, too, left vowing that he was the 
man of their choice. In some cases this result was brought about 
by reason of the principles represented by LaFollette. Most often 
it was brought about by the personality of the man himself. 

LaFollette never forgets a name or a face. He meets many 
men. Some of them forget him. He always remembers them. 
It is said Caesar knew every man in his army. James G. Blaine 
had the same faculty of memory. It is a power in itself. It 
appeals to the vanity of men to know that in all the rush of poli- 
tics they have not been forgotten. Added to this is a charm of 
personality indescribable. LaFollette knows how to meet and 
deal with men. All his life he has been a close student of human 
nature. He makes up his mind quickly as to the worth of a man. 
Long experience has taught him to read aright in most cases. His 
handshake is a grip that at once establishes a fellowship. It is 
not affected. It is the same ©n every occasion of meeting. It is 
given to all friends whether they be great or small, rich or poor. 
The man is essentially democratic in his tastes. He deals neither 
in obsequious flattery nor vulgar sycophancy. He looks men 
straight in the eyes and talks to them slowly, deliberately, 
earnestly. His intense individuality compels magnetic response. 

He uses much the same methods on the stump as in private 
'•onversation. He emphasizes every point with gestures. He takes 
men right into the narrow circle of his exclusive attention. Every 
man believes that the orator is talking directly to him. It is this 
power that has made LaFollette foremost among the jury lawyers 
of the state. He is always courteous in answering questions, yet 
the man who tries to play upon his credulity finds him ready in 
repartee, with a score of strings for his bow. 

Mr. LaFollette is a poor man, but despite his many reverses 
his life has been a singularly happy and genial one. The year 
he began the practice of his profession he was married to Miss 
Belle Case, who had been his classmate in the university and to 
whom upon graduation was awarded the Lewis prize for the best 
commencement oration. Besides her university course Mrs. La- 
Follette was graduated from the university law school, being the 
first woman to receive a dijiloma from that institution. The La- 
Follette home is on the shore of Lake Monona. It is the house 



"Menace-of-the-Machine" Speech 87 

of a scholar, a student and a husband and a wife of letters. Here 
and there and everywhere are books. LaFollette is an omnivorous 
reader. He knows Hamlet almost by heart. His family, consist- 
ing of one daughter and two little sons, is a most happy and con- 
genial one, and every hour that the father is away is a sacrifice. 

This is Robert Marion LaFollette, reformer, leader of the new I 
regime in Wisconsin political affairs. 

From the state fair LaFollette entered upon a round 
of county fair speeches, a practice of "following-the- 
ponies" which was to be kept up for years and which 
was to prove one of the most effective of propagandic 
agencies. 

A study by the Milwaukee Journal of the LaFollette 
style of oratory at the time may also be of*interest now. 
It reads : 

Ex-Congressman Robert M. LaFollette of Madison, as an agri- 
cultural fair orator, is far and away ahead of the usual run of 
speakers who accept invitations to make that sort of address. 
Whatever purpose he may have had in view in starting in on the 
tour of county fairs at which he has spoken this fall, his vigorous 
oratory can not have failed to have left its impression on his 
hearers. 

Below the ordinary height, he is compactly built, and has a 
square, almost massive face, when his stature is considered, and 
his head is covered with a thick, almost shocky, growth of dark 
brown hair. He is not a commanding figure by any means, but 
rather impresses one who sees him for the first time as possessed 
of a solidity and a bulldog determination. But he is a trained 
and impressive speaker and knows how to use hands, arms and 
body as well as words. 

When brought before his audience he measures at one sweep- 
ing glance the entire assemblage. He moves rather sluggishly at 
first, but is not long in getting warmed up, and he remains 
warmed up all through his speech even if it covers two hours. 
This intense and continued display of energy is one of the strong 
characteristics of the man, as expressed in his work as a public 
speaker, and it rarely fails to bring his hearers to him and to 
hold their attention. 

In most speakers such a vast expenditure of energy in the 
delivery of an oration would become stale and tiresome. But La- 
Follette is infinite in facial expression and gesture. Even much 



88 LaFollette's Winning of Wisconsin 

of his solidly knit frame is brought into play. Perhai)s the secret 
of his success as an orator is the fact of the singular appropriate- 
ness of each motion intended to emphasize his expressed thought. 
They harmonize. Does he describe the horrors of the civil war 
and the fratricidal strife that nearly rent in twain the greatest 
people on earth, his face becomes awful in its expression of the 
very feeling with which he is attempting to impress his hearers. 
When he refers to the return of peace and prosperity, after the 
years of strife and bloodshed, with arms raised and hands open 
as in benediction, his face wears an expression lit up with the 
glad brightness of the picture he is drawing. And so all 
through. He denounces the crushing greed and overbearing in- 
solence and corruption of the corporations and the firm set lines 
of his face, the tightly clenched hands and the whole attitude 
of the man am those of a just judge denouncing the iniquity 
that he has discovered. Coming to the picture of the remedy 
applied and the citizens of the republic again awake and alert 
to all the responsibilities of citizenship, the face glows with 
patriotic pride and the arms describe with almost majestic sweep 
of the open palms and victory of the people and their cause. 

And Mr. LaFollette is sometimes sarcastic. His words bite 
like coals of fire; but his face and gestures are unique. Here, 
as in other phases, they harmonize, and with his head slightly 
lowered, his shock of brown hair overtopping the face and the 
right arm extended, the index finger pointing apparently at the 
very object of his attack, there is a certain fine frenzy, in the man 
that few public speakers can use to such advantage. Again he 
will refer to the noble men that have made history in this country 
in past years as a heritage of which Americans should be proud, 
and with clenched fists and uplifted arms, he seems to hold that 
precious heritage aloft and gazing at it with open mouth and up- 
turned eyes, invite his hearers to see in substance the very thing 
his fancy has painted. 

Disgust, hope, honor, avarice, despair, love, anger, all the 
passions of man, he paints in strong words and still stronger 
gestures. This may sound like exaggeration — but into the most 
commonplace of his word paintings he throws the energy of a 
man apparently fully impressed with the whole force and truth 
of his statements. He never wearies and he will not allow his 
audience to weary. He carries his subject and his hearers both, 
and compels the latter to listen, if he can not compel them to 
endorse what he may say. 

There is no joke, nothing frivolous. He is in earnest and 
gives himself up wholly to the work he is doing. It is serious 



"Menace-of-the-Machine" Speech 89 

work to him and while he may not possess the finish of some of 
the noted orators of the day, he certainly does possess their force. 
He raises his right arm and with open palm there rolls from it 
rather than from his lips the statement he is making. In his left 
he carries the notes always carefully prepared from which his 
speech flows as readily as it does from the mouth of the most 
accomplished extemporaneous speaker. With most speakers the 
presence in one hand of a written speech is a considerable draw- 
back. LaFollette uses it as an effective weapon. It seems to give 
added accuracy and precision to* his statements. He goes to it 
for inspiration and does not in any sense occupy the time and the 
patience of his hearers by referring to it. He seems never to lose 
his place. He uses the written sheet as a man would use a club 
in a fight. He holds it out before his audience, grasping it tightly 
in his left hand, and with the fingers of his right hand he taps it 
impressively, and no one dreams it is not a j^art of the idea he 
is advancing. 

Mr. LaFollette is a study. It may be that you do not agree 
with him either in premises or conclusions. But it can not be 
denied that he impresses even the unbelievers among his hearers 
that he believes himself and believes in the truth and force of his 
statements. Perhaps this concentration of every power in the man 
to impress his hearers with his sincerity is a stage trick, but it is 
well played and beyond detection. It is real and full of life and 
vitality and with the average man who hears Robert M. LaFollette 
it is impossible to arrive at any other conclusion than that he takes 
himself seriously. 

Near the conclusion of his speech as he folds his arms across 
his chest with the air of a man who has done all that can be done, 
and in a quiet and impressive way delivers his peroration, there 
is a wonderful change. It is a change that does not detract from 
your opinion of the orator, but rather adds to it. You realize 
then that he has been speaking a long time. He has tired you 
out, but you did not know it before. However, he does not seem 
to have become weary himself. As he bows for the last time and 
withdraws he seems as fresh as ever. You are impressed with 
the belief that the man is a sort of steam engine. He is iron in 
the sense that iron conveys the idea of endurance. 

Robert M. LaFollette is certainly a study. 

The comity fairs over LaFollette continued his propa- 
gandic work, .speaking wherever his political or old uni- 
versity friends could obtain for him a hall, a schoolhouse 
or a church. 



90 LaFollktte's Winning of Wisconsin 

One uiffht he was scheduled to speak at the village of 
Argyle in Lafayette county, where he had spent some 
of his boyhood years. Part of this period — after his 
mother had returned to Primrose — he had lived at the 
home of a family named Hawley. After these years he 
was now again a guest at the Ilawley home. It is re- 
ported that as a boy he sometimes tried the patience of 
the good Mrs. Hawley by Jjis exuberance of spirits and 
a tendency to mischief, but a corresponding tendency 
toward contrition for his pranks made it impossible for 
her to harbor anything but a fleeting impatience. On 
this occasion Mr, and Mrs. Hawley occupied a front seat 
and as the speaker warmed to his flights Mr. Hawley 
nudged his wife and asked, "Well, what do you think 
of the boy now?" 

"Why, it's all right," said the hard-headed lady, "if 
he only means what he says." 

The next morning at breakfast her former young 
charge asked Mrs. Hawley: 

"Well, Auntie, how did you like my speech last 
night?" 

"Why, it was very fine, Robert," she replied, "but 
did you mean it?" 

"Oh, now, Auntie," he continued, "how can you be 
so cruel as to ask such a question?" 

"Well," she replied, "I happen to remember how you 
used to promise not to get into miscliiof again." 

These meetings were not without their incidents. Of 
one such the following account by one B. J. Daly is 
given. Written a decade and a half afterward, it shows 
the vivid impression made by the new political evan- 
gelist upon his hearers at the time : 

I think it was in 1S97 that I first heard of LaFollette or 
hoard him speak. It was at a county fair in this city and was 
shortly after Mr. LaFollctto had made sensational charges against 
Senator Sawyer, wlio at that time was tlie great dominating factor 
in republican politics in Wisconsin. 



"Mexace-of-the-Machine" Speech 91 

Mr. LaFollette spoke from a farm wagon which stood on the 
race track in front of the grandstand. The grandstand was 
packed with people, who were anxious to hear this modern David, 
just going forth to battle with the giants, and incidentally to 
witness the horse races. For some reason he was late in begin- 
ning and evidently the hour assigned to the races in the printed 
program came shortly after LaFollette began to speak. Some 
confusion was caused by the horsemen speeding their horses by 
the grandstand and disturbing the speaker. After this had gone 
on for a while, Mr. LaFollette stopped in his address and turn- 
ing to the men causing the disturbance he told them that he had 
been given a certain length of time to speak and that he proposed 
to use that time. He said that he was late in beginning through 
no fault of his and that any time lost by noise or disturbance 
would be deducted from their time and not from his. It was a 
bold bluff, but effective, and there was no further disturbance. 
Oshkosh may have been hostile territory for Mr. LaFollette, but 
one thing is sure, that audience was clearly with him and he was 
cheered to the echo. 

I have heard a good many political speeches before and since, 
but that was the first time I had ever heard a man attack his own 
party and point out the sins it had been guilty of. Always before 
that time it was the other party that was scored and advised to 
clean house. But LaFollette specifically and in detail told how 
the will of the people was being defeated by his party bosses and 
he invited the people of all parties in, to see how the machine 
worked and to watch the wheels go around, and explained how 
he proposed to improve things. He told his plan for a primary 
election law, then an entirely new idea, and so far as I can learn, 
original with LaFollette. 

The speech made a profound and lasting impression on me, 
and doubtless on most of those who heard it, and convinced me 
of the man's perfect honesty. I went away in a dazed condition. 
I could not realize that this man, who scored the republican party 
bosses, was himself a republican, seeking republican support. And 
to the everlasting honor of the republican party in Wisconsin, be 
it said, he got that support. All the world loves a lover, it is 
said, and it is equally true that all the world loves a brave man, 
and certainly none but a brave man would have undertaken the 
mighty task which LaFollette had undertaken and which he was 
just beginning. 

I was a democrat, and always before that time I had gone 
away from hearing a republican speech more of a democrat than 
ever. But here was a man who spoke to mo as a citizen, not as a 



L aFou.kttk's Winmnc; of Wisconsin 

imrtiwiii. He diil not attack either party as a party; he attacked 
the I'ttd in both parties, especially in his own. Do you wonder 
men were impressed? 

A most unusual thiiifj aliout iiia s|»eech was the bold way in 
which he named the Icaclers of his party who were responsible for 
tlie corrupt practices he complained of. No gumshoe methods for 
LaFolIette. Everything said was open and above board. No hints 
nor flittering generalities for him. 

Since then I have listened to him often and have been in the 
audience when he attacked the political records of candidates of 
his own party in their own commimity with the candidates at- 
tacked sitting there on the platform with him. And yet we have 
been told by his enemies that he is not sincere. 

Well, maybe not, but those are not the ways of a double- 
dealer nor an insincere man. Surely if he is not honest he dis- 
sembles well. 




r .1 1 111 i iiim.'. .\i:ipK 
.Miidlson. Wis. 



Riurr. 



CHAPTER VII 
Albert R. Hall and His Work. 

A Strong, Heroic Character — His Long Fight for Anti-Pass 
AND Railroad Tax Legislation — The Pass and Its Evils — Sig- 
nificant Referendum Vote on Railroad Regulation. 

i\ SPARE, swarthy man, angular in appearance, and a 
veteran of the civil war, appeared in the legislature from 
one of the northern counties in 1891, the year in which 
LaFollette retired from congress. It was not his first 
experience in legislative work ; he had, in fact, already 
served as speaker of the Minnesota assembly — later re- 
moving to Wisconsin — but this fact was not known to 
many of his colleagues, who little guessed as they eyed 
him askance that this modest, serious and industrious 
fellow member was soon to be the commanding figure 
of the house and to bring down upon his head a storm 
that was to shake the state to its farthest limit. 

This man was Albert R. Hall, and his appearance was 
prophetic of the new order of things that Avas coming 
into being. Hall was the statesman of the hour imme- 
diately preceding the LaFollette movement, the strong- 
est and most influential individual force in the state in 
preparing the public mind for the revolution to come 
and deserves early and distinct consideration by the 
student of this period. Possessed of the zealot's faith, 
far-seeing, patient, incorruptible, undismayed by failure, 
he was the proverbial man for the time when defeat, de- 
rision, misunderstanding, might be the expected portion. 

He had given deep thought to the necessity for a 
change in the practice and substance of legislation and 
on coming to the assembly promptly took steps to put 
an end to one of the great prevailing abuses by intro- 
ducing a stringent anti-pass bill, following this in time 



94 LaFollette'h Winning of Wisconsin 

with a measure to re(|uire the railroads to pay a larger 
share of taxes, and with bills for the creation of a rail- 
road commission. It has been customary with the op- 
ponents of LaFollette to deny him any credit for the 
passage of the anti-pass law and the rebuilding of the 
taxation scheme of the state on its present superior basis, 
the distinction of the initiation of these reforms being 
given to Mr. Hall. How much each of these borrowed 
from or lent each other is, however, a mere quibble be- 
side the great fact that they both urged these reforms 
and worked in admirable harmony and co-operation until 
Mr. Hall's death. Hall always gave LaFollette a large 
measure of credit. Plad he chosen he might have built 
to his own political advantage on these claims, but Hall 
was not the kind of man to do this. Too great a patriot 
to be self-seeking; too just to withhold from any man 
his deserts, he declared that all considerations of justice 
and political Avisdom demanded that LaFollette be placed 
in party command, and refusing all proffers of support 
for the governorship he espoused the LaFollette cause 
and became himself a follower in the ranks. Also when 
encouraged to become a candidate for United States sen- 
ator, he replied : "I am not the man to send to the sen- 
ate. My work as a legislator at Madison taxes my ca- 
pacity. We must send LaFollette to the senate." 

In view of the great influence the railroads had ac- 
quired in the political life of the state following the de- 
feat of the granger movement. Hall set himself a great 
undertaking in determining to try conclusions with a 
lobby that had grown increasingly strong and arrogant 
with time. 

So i)()tent had the rei)resentatives of the so-called 
"liiird hous(;" — particularly the railroad representatives 
— become that they were often regarded as the real big 
men of the legislatures and were better known than the 
majority of the lawmakers themselves. They were 



Albert R. Hall and His Wokk 95 

courted and dined ; members deferred to them and sought 
their counsel and approval in all things of consequence. 
Lavishly equipped apartments were maintained by them. 
The names of few legislators of those days are now re- 
membered, but those of the lobbyists Ring, Wiswall, Lus- 
combe and Cheney survive. Commenting on the lobby 
power of old, August Roden of the Wisconsin State 
Journal said editorially in January, 1911 : 

Pity the poor lobbyist! He can find no place to lay his head 
in Madison, in or out of the legislature. None so poor now to do 
him honor. Time was when the lobbyist walked the boards of 
the Park hotel a king. When he would see a member he did not, 
as a servile hireling, go upon the floor of the chamber from which 
he is now so brutally excluded, but sent for his member; and his 
member came. Indeed it was seldom that he had to send for a 
member, for early and late members thronged his headquarters to 
learn the fate of their individual measures or receive instructions, 
or, if the lobbyist were representing a railroad company, to re- 
ceive passes. 

The writer remembers distinctly the feeling of awe inspired 
by his first view of a real lobbyist in the Park hotel during a ses- 
sion of the legislature a score or more of years ago. The lobbyist 
in question, now returned to the bosom of his family and to a life 
of peace and honor, was passing on his way through the crowd 
to his apartments on the second floor. Apparently all who were 
in the hotel were there to see him and he stopped frequently to 
distribute from a large pocketbook railroad passes. He had the 
haughty, chesty ^r of a circus ticket vender and seemed to resent 
the request of the humble members who asked for favors. But 
now Ichabod is his name for the glory has departed from his 
realm. 

The free pass was the great agency through which the 
railroads exercised their powerful sway over the legis- 
lators and the public and it was not until the pass was 
abolished that the grip of the railroads upon the state 
was to a degree finally broken. A former assemblyman 
once said to A. H. Dahl, later state treasurer: "When 
I was in the legislature about all we could do was to 
take care of passes." Commenting on this statement, 
Mr. Dahl said : 



96 LAFdi.i.ETTE's WiNNixi; OK Wisconsin 

I know this was true although I never used railroad passes 
myself. When first elected to the assembly I was sent the cus- 
tomary bunch for myself and family with the understanding also 
that there were unlimited quantities for my friends, but I felt 
that the growing sentiment against the pass practice was right 
and returned mine with thanks, although I have no doubt that I 
thereby become unpopular with some of my constituents. Many 
men who disapproved of passes were practically obliged to get 
tlicin for their friends and supporters. 

Former Govenior James 0. Davidson also said: "I 
was obligred to maintain a ledger in order to keep track 
of the 800 or more passes for which I had requests. This 
duty became such a nuisance and left me so little time 
for other work that I finally became disgusted and shut 
off the wliole pass business so far as I was concerned.'' 

A Madison citizen who was a student in the University 
at the time says: "It happened that the stenographer 
of Ring, the NorthAvestern lobbyist, was a friend of mine 
and one day he invited me up to Ring's headquarters 
at the Park hotel. I went up and found the stenog- 
rapher busy in a front office mailing out passes, while 
in an inner office Ring himself was handing them out 
to members as they came in at one door and went out 
of another. Ring's room also was well stocked up with 
a lavish layout of fine cigars and other good things to 
which visitors helped themselves. 

" * Do they all get passes?' I asked my friend. 

" 'All but TIall and a few others who refuse to take 
them.' 

" 'And liow many do tliey get .'' 

" 'Oh, we usually give them what they want, but 
here's a fellow (from ^Milwaukee) who wants forty-five, 
so that he can take all his friends ii]) to the northern 
lakes. That's pretty strong, though.' 

" 'Well thej' can't vote independently on meastn-es if 
tliey accept favors like that, can they?' I asked. 

" 'No,' replied my friend, 'I don't think they do.' 



Albert R. Hall and His Work 97 

"That set me thinking and I went away from there 
an anti-pass, LaFollette man." 

Besides influencing the judgments and votes of public 
officers, the pass had the further evil effect of dissipat- 
ing energy and interest m the work of legislation. With 
transportation costing nothing, adjournments were con- 
tinually being taken from Friday to Tuesday that the 
members might spend the intervening time in travel or 
upon private business at their homes. 

This made the Situation particularly trying to the 
more conscientious members who used no passes. If 
they lived at any distance from Madison they could not 
go home because of the expense and time involved. 

"About all we could do," said one such member, "was 
to lie around Madison and swear three or four days a 
week. We could get no committee meetings nor do any- 
thing. While the other members were having a good 
time attending to their private affairs the framing of 
bills was left to the lobbyists and attorneys of special 
interests, who were perfectly willing to spare the law- 
makers this work." 

The energy and relentlessness with which Hall had 
pressed the anti-pass issue Un the preceding campaign, 
combined with the Scofield coav exposure, and the plat- 
form declaration of the party, made it apparent to the 
legislature of 1899 that anti-pass legislation could no 
longer be safely deferred. As usual. Hall presented his 
anti-pass bill, but so difficult was it to obtain action 
upon it that it was feared it would again fail. When- 
ever and wherever it was brought up all sorts of gro- 
tesque mot.ons and amendments would be offered to de- 
lay action, in order that passes might be used to the end 
of the session. One would exempt sheriffs, another no- 
taries, another legislators; one would postpone the date 
when the law should go into effect ; one ask delay because 
of the absence of some member, etc. In the meantime 



98 LaFollette's Winning of Wisconsin 

the members and their families and other favored per- 
sons enjoyed the pass privilege to the utmost. But the 
bill was finally pushed through to the statute books. It 
should be noted, however, that it was the last law en- 
acted at the session and was not approved until May 3, 
1899. 

Hall had to pay the patriot's price for carrying on 
the battle for the people. For years he was subjected 
to unmeasured scorn and ridicule by the bulk of the 
press of the state and his own fellow legislators. Pros- 
pective members of the legislature would be told by their 
older fellows that they would find on coming to Madison 
a queer, gaunt, seedy-looking old man named Hall, with 
a squeaky voice. He had many crank notions, they 
would be informed, and they must look out for him. It 
was, of course, unfortunate that the party should be sad- 
dled W'ith such men, they would say, but it had to be 
tolerated. It seems almost unbelievable at this day, yet 
the prejudice against him came to such a pass that when- 
ever Hall rose to speak it was made an occasion for gen- 
eral laughter and sneers, and one member once intro- 
duced a resolution to have Hall appointed a committee 
of one to reform the state of Wisconsin. Another legis- 
lator afterwards confessed that it took him years to over- 
come his prejudice and that he did not do so until it oc- 
curred to him one day to give serious attention to a 
speech by the anti-railroad crusader. When Hall had 
concluded this fellow legislator had completely changed 
his attitude toward him. He declared that Hall was 
correct iU his views, and from that time he was a strong 
supporter of the statesman from Dunn. 

This speech which exerted so great an influence upon 
a fellow member, by the way, occupied a whole after- 
noon and was one of the most memorable ever heard in 
a Wisconsin legislative chamber. It dealt with the sub- 
ject of railroad taxation and was compact with facts and 



Albert R. Hall and His Work 99 

statistics, the result of years of deep and patient study 
by its author. Little divining the powerful reserve am- 
munition Hall was treasuring up, his opponents had 
made a number of shallow and sarcastic arguments 
against his measures which gave him the desired oppor- 
tunity to unlimber his powerful batteries of argument 
and invective and shatter Lke eggshells the half-baked 
objections of the railroad apologists. 

Former Governor J. 0. Davidson is authority for the 
statement that Hall spent nearly $2,000 during the legis- 
lative session of 1895 for printing and postage in making 
an educational campaign for his anti-pass and railroad 
commission measures. One of the notable things done 
by him at that session was to bring about a practical 
statewide referendum on his measures at the spring elec- 
tions that year. While his bills were pending in the 
legislature Hall conceived the idea that a powerful in- 
fluence in their favor might be exerted were a popular 
vote taken on them at town meetings. Accordingly, on 
his own responsibility, he prepared ballots and a day or 
two before election he sent them to as many town clerks 
throughout the state as he could, requesting that they 
be used as an expression of public sentiment on the ques- 
tion of railroad regulation. All this work was done in 
secret and unknown to the opponents of his measures. 
Mr. Hall was assisted by Mr. Davidson and Joseph Smet- 
hurst, a legislative clerk, the three men working with al- 
most heart-breaking energy for several days and nights 
to get the material into the mails./ Mr. Hall's faith was 
abundantly justified by the returns on his referendum, 
a total of some 50,000 votes being reported for his 
measures, with only about 700 votes against them. This 
expression was later to prove a powerful weapon in the 
hands of Mr, Hall. 

"While Mr. Hall had strong faith in the ultimate 
♦riumph of his reforms," said Davidson, "he was at 



100 LaFoli^tte's Wixn'ixg of "Wisconsin 

times blue and dejected at his many defeats. 'Don't 
ruin your health for these things,' he once said to me; 
'you will find it unprofitable and disappointing in the 
long run.' " 

It required the highest loyalty to principle to make 
such a fight as Hall led in those days. The railroads 
could flood the legislature with passes and favors, while 
the slender band of the supporters of public interests 
could offer no reward except ridicule and the conscious- 
ness of duty well done. 

It is now interesting history that such a man was 
obliged to go hawking his anti-pass resolution from state 
convention to state convention and from legislature to 
legislature only to meet with defeat and ridicule for 
years. 

Hall hailed from near the little town of Knapp in 
Dunn county where in the isolation of the woods he led 
a quiet, almost recluse, bachelor's life, giving his chief 
attention when not in the public service to the raising 
of goats and other livestock on a large farm. When he 
was serving his second term in the legislature a new rail- 
road map of the state was issued from the railroad com- 
missioner's office. On inspection it was found that the 
town of Knapp had been left "off the map." Whether 
or not this was done at the suggestion of the railroads 
as a "cut" at Hall for his anti-railroad activity was 
never determined but "the gentleman from Dunn" had 
to bear considerable twitting as a result. 

As illustrating this austere patriot's severe sense of 
independence the following story Avas told by John W. 
Groves, later assistant superintendent of public prop- 
erty : One evening Mr. Groves entered a barber shop 
at Madison in a great hurry to get shaved and offered 
a man already in a chair a quarter for his place. At 
this a quiet man wlio sat at a nearby table and whose 
turn was due interrupted with, "If you are going to 



Albert R. Hall and His Work 101 

tear off your shirt for a shave you can have my place." 
Mr. Groves did not know the man who had extended 
him this courtesy, but thanked him, obtained his shave 
and handing the barber a half dollar said, "Give that 
man a good shave and take it out of this for his wait- 
ing." When the accommodating stranger, who later 
proved to be Mr. Hall, had obtained his shave and prof- 
fered his pay he was informed that Mr. Groves, the man 
who preceded him in the chair, had paid for it, where- 
upon he burst into a passion, delivering a homily to the 
barber on the stultification of being put under obliga- 
tions to others and forced him to take a second fee. 

Mr. Hall's character and services have been fitly im- 
mortalized in a bronze tablet to his memory set in the 
assembly chamber of the capitol. 

He is the only man whom the state has so far seen fit 
to thus honor. Were this tablet to be inscribed with any 
tributory legend, but one word would need be written, 
"Incorruptible." This designation, the highest tribute 
the ancients could bestow on their heroes, is likewise 
the people's estimate of the character of Albert R. Hall. 



CHAPTER VIII 

Campaig-n of 1898. 



LaFollette Again a Candidate to Keep Principles Alive — 
A. R. Hall Attacks Scofield — Goveunor's Cow Becomes 
Famous — Stirring Convention Battle — Scofield Renominated. 



T 



HAT Governor Scofield and the old party organiza- 
tion would again have a serious fight in 1808 to continue 
in power had been foreshadowed in LaFollette 's cru- 
sading round in the fall of 1^97. The radical difference 
in point of view of the two elements was also shown in 
the fact that so far from sharing the anti-corporation 
sentiments of LaFollette, Governor Scofield in his first 
message to the legislature in 1897 devoted but seventeen 
lines to the ''raJroad question" and simply congratu- 
lated the people of the state on the pleasant relations 
existing between them and the roads. 

But there were other signs. / Governor Scofield had 
vetoed the so-called Davidson bills for the taxation of 
express and sleeping car companies. This action pre- 
cipitated a great and acrimonious controversy, scarcely 
merited by these bdls which were not very thorough- 
going, at least as compared with the measures in their 
original form. As first presented by Mr. Davidson the 
measures had some "teeth" in them, but after David- 
son had succeeded in putting them through the assem- 
bly and had obtained a favorable committee report in 
the senate one senator solemnly asked that the bills be 
reref erred to the committee before coming to a vote. In 
courtesy to the senator (and to the express companies) 
they were so rereferrod. Then, it is said, the legislative 
halls were flooded with express franks for the carrying 
of everything up to boats and live stock, "When the bills 
reappeared out of committee they were badly emascu- 



Campaign of 1898 103 

lated. Davidson then declared that he cared little for 
the measures as redrawn by the committee, but that they 
might have some value in establishing the principle of 
making the companies pay a small tax, and accordingly 
they were passed. 

Friends of Governor Seofield have stated that he 
originally signed one of the bills, but that later, on the 
representation of JVI. G. Jeffris, assistant attorney gen- 
eral, he vetoed them, defending his action on the ground 
that they had been passed without a roll call. At any 
rate, his opponents charged that he gave the corporations 
rather than the people the benefit of the doubt. 

He had also been silent on the pass evil against which 
A. K, Hall had been thundering since his first appear- 
ance in Madison. Accordingly in the spring of 1898 Hall 
wrote a series of fiery letters attacking Seofield. In a 
scathing communication printed in the Milwaukee 
Sentinel, May 21, Hall declared that the people of Wis- 
consin in town meetings in the spring of 1895 had voted 
50,000 to 700 against free passes, and the conventioij of 
1896 had adopted a resolution agamst the pass evil,' yet 
instead of making such a recommendation to the legis- 
lature, he (Seofield) was pleased to inject into his mes- 
sage the following : 

- Eailroads — The railroads of Jhe state are closely identified 
. with the development of our agricultural, commercial and manu- 
facturing interests. Farmers, merchants, manufacturers, miners, 
and all classes of our people come daily into business relations 
with them and it is a cause for congratulation that the relations 
existing between the twenty or more railroads doing business 
within our borders and the people of the state are so generally 
harmonious. 

In other letters in the Janesville Republican Hall as- 
serted that Seofield had franked his cow from Oconto 
to Madison and then when the fact came to light had 
paid the bill ten months and seventeen days afterwards. 
In part the Hall phillipic read : 



104 LaFollette's Winning of Wisconsin 

Major Scofield in accepting the nomination used these words: 
' ' I pledge you that I will not only st^ind upon that platform during 
the campaign, for the election, but if elected will stand firmly upon 
it during the full term of office. " * * * " That Governor Sco- 
field is responsiVjle for the defeat of the pass legislation many 
familiar with the facts firmly believe. It is known that he used 
his influence with members to ]iersuade them to vote against the 
resolution and that he denounced it as a "d d humbug." 

Another gem in this now celebrated Janesville speech of our 
governor is the following: 

"I wish there might be cultivated such a moral sentiment as 
will put to shame the man who will not perform his political duties 
and who for one cause or another shifts his burden of the ex- 
penses of government upon others. ' ' 

It is conceded that transportation charges are a tax and if 
one man avoids in any way the payment of his transportation 
charges it is shifted upon another. So when the governor rides 
on a pass or ships his cow by express on a frank he "shifts his 
burden of the expenses of government U]ion others. ' ' 

I submit to all republicans who believe that the pass evil 
should be abolished, and that the great corporations of the state 
should be made to pay their fair proportion of the burdens of 
government it will be but hollow mockery to renew its declaration 
on the pass question, if as its only pledge of good faith it renom- 
inates as standard bearer one who has betrayed his party and who 
is responsible for his party's betrayal of the jieople. 

It may here be said that Scofield on his nomination in 
1896 had declared that the platform of his party was 
his speech of acceptance and his pledge and that he 
would seek to carry it out in letter and spirit. He de- 
clared afterward, however, that in making that pledge 
he knew nothing about the Hall anti-pass resolution and 
that he made his promise upon an advance copy of the 
platform which had been shown him, and which did not 
contain the Hall resolution. 

To lead the reform cause in the campaign that year 
it seemed to most politicians would be a vain and profit- 
less sacrifice. The habit of renominating a governor 
after his first trial was one the people could not be ex- 
pected to disregard without the greatest provocation. 



Campaign of 1898 105 

Edward Scofield was governor. He was an old soldier, 
an experienced legislator and a man of different mettle 
than his predecessor. Unlike Governor Upham, he was 
not a man to be frightened off after one term. Besides 
he had the united support of the political machine, the 
railroads and the big corporations generally and had en- 
listed the press in his favor by an unprecedented num- 
ber of appointments of editors to jobs. But he had 
proved a "corporation governor." He had vetoed the 
Davidson bills for the taxation of sleeping car and ex- 
press companies, and the war against the form of ad- 
ministration exemplified in him had to go on. To fore- 
stall any misunderstanding and to gain such advantage 
as early action would give, Scofield announced his can- 
didacy for a second time as early as April 21. LaFol- 
lette took the position that, victory or defeat, a stand 
should be taken for certain things simply because they 
were right ; he was more concerned with principles than 
personal or party success, and at a meeting with some 
thirty of his leaders in Milwaukee had proposed a cam- 
paign for a platform alone, and without candidates; 
but they declared that such would be a fruitless course, 
as the efficiency and value of laws lie not so much in the 
statutes as in the men in authority and the spirit in 
which such men meet their obligations. 

Who would make the sacrifice? No one coming for- 
ward, LaFollette was finally prevailed upon to take the 
nominal as well as the real leadership. 

Previous to this other things of great import to Mr. 
LaFollette had transpired. On March 12, 1898, he de- 
livered by invitation an address before the Good Gov- 
ernment Club of the University of Michigan at Ann 
Arbor on "Primary Elections." This speech contained 
no new doctrine, nor did it differ materially from that 
which Mr. LaFollette had been preaching for a year, 
but being a polished and powerful elaboration and re- 



106 LaFollette'r Winxi^tg of Wisconsin 

ceiving wide publicity it attracted much attention and 
is justly ranked among LaFollette's great speeches. His 
graphic picture of the workings of a convention may be 
here given : 

But let us follow this jierversiou of representative govern- 
ment to the very end. The time arrives for the meeting of the 
nominating convention. Tlie delegates elected by the intermediate 
conventions go from every county to the place designated by the 
state central committee, nominally the supreme authority of the 
party. The gathering of delegates, of prominent politicians, of 
candidates and the friends of candidates, augmented by the mul- 
titude which contest always attracts, crowd the rooms and corri- 
dors of the hotels, and the streets of the city. Political workers, 
not elected as delegates, many of whom indeed have been defeated 
as delegates in the local caucus and intermediate convention, ar- 
rive early and take active part in the real work of the nominating 
convention. Though they may have been rejected as untrust- 
worthy representatives of the voters at home, they frequently ex- 
ercise a controlling influence upon the action of the nominating 
convention, thus defeating the will of the majority that defeated 
them as delegates. They plunge at once into the contest and the 
commotion increases with their onset. Upon all sides men are 
hurrying to and fro. Glib talkers are heard in heated discussion. 
Others are quietly moving through the crowd, dropping significant 
remarks here and there, setting on certain ones to talk, starting 
rumors and roorbacks, loosening the tongue of scandal and false- 
hood, fiuostioning, doubting, doalin." in hints .-ind inhuendoes, rais- 
ing false issues against one candidate, asserting that there is a 
division in the sunrort of another, thnt it is reported that an- 
other has given up the contest and withdrawn, that another would 
be bolted by the Germans or Irish or Xorwoijians if nominated, 
and so on and on to the end of evil invention. Every hour the 
excitement increases. Investigation is baffled. Evpl.-uiatinns are 
of no avail. There is no chance for argument. The truth is dis- 
counted. Statements are as good as f.-icts. 

The time approaches when the convention will meet. Awpv 
in some retired room behind locked doors the masters of the 
machine sit in qu'et conference. They have issued the'r orders 
to those in nominnl control. The rrooram of the con%-ent'on is 
all prepared. The temporary and permanent chairmen have been 
"elected" in advance, notified weeks aro and are pre>--ent, each 
with an impromptu speech of ncceptance in his little satchel. 
These men have been selected bv the masters of the machine with 



Campaign of 1898 107 

considerable judgment. There will be no mistakes made. Men 
designated in advance will be recognized by the chairman for 
all ini) ortant motions at the "right time." All troublesome points 
of order will be promptly overruled. All motions will be decided 
in the ' ' right way. ' ' These precautions have been found necessary 
even in the best governed machine conventions, for revolt against 
the rule of the machine is sometimes to be expected and always 
provided against. Nothing is overlooked here. There is no haste, 
no confusion. In the rooms of the delegates, in the wide cor- 
ridors of the hotel below, out upon the street of the city, the ex- 
cited mass may push and surge, parry and thrust, accuse and deny, 
hoot and cheer, but in this quiet corner all is harmonious and 
peaceful. And it is here that the work of the convention is being 
performed. Here that the combinations are affected, here that 
the deals, and bargains, and trades, and pledges, and promises 
of api)Ointment, are being made, that will settle all the business 
of the convention at the api3ointed time. 

Finally all is in readiness, the hour is at hand. The bands 
play. The delegations take their places under the waving ban- 
ners, in the great convention hall. Thousands of spectators look 
down upon the scene from the lofty galleries. At last order and 
quiet prevails, but it is the tense quiet of suppressed excitement. 
The nerves are tingling, the pulses bounding. It is a powder 
magazine of powerfully restrained human emotions, a spark, a 
gesture, a word and an explosion follows. 

The nominating speeches are made. With each jiresentation 
the supporting delegates cheer and applaud and stamp and wave 
fans and flags in a furious demonstration of endorsement. The 
convention becomes a scene of wild disorder. Men of serious and 
dignified dejiortment in life clamber over seats and rush back and 
forth, frantically shouting the names of their favorite candidates, 
until they finally cease from sheer exhaustion. 

And this is a deliberative body of American citizens, engaged 
in the discharge of the gravest duty which can ever be committed 
to men, under a representative form of government! Immortal 
fathers who founded this republic! Let us believe that in the 
providence of God your eyes are veiled from this modern method 
of nominating candidates for the high trust of public service. 

With the speechmaking at an end the balloting begins, but 
there is no lull in the storm. The announcement of the votes of 
each delegation is greeted with applause from time to time, rising 
above the confusion of the canvass carried on by the more active 
members of the convention as they rush their workers from one 
delegation to another in eager quest for votes. The result of the 



108 LaFollette's Wi.nmng of Wisconsin 

ballot when declared, if not final, is the occasion for a storm of 
cheers from the adherents of the leading candidates. Then the 
balloting goes forward again. 

The lightness of the obligation of the delegate to the voters 
he represents, now becomes manifest. Many who have withstood 
the blandishments and temptations of the canvass since their ar- 
rival, having recorded a vote for the choice of their constituencies, 
hope now to be able to do something for themselves, in the way 
of political j)rcfcrment and rush wildly for the "loaded wagon." 
This is usually followed by a stampede which closes the contest 
and reveals the inherent weakness of a plan of representation 
wholly without responsibility. 

The work of the convention is ended. The masters of the 
machine have had their way. The minority from their quiet 
corner in the hotel have ruled the great majority of the plain 
citizens of the state. The men named as candidates are the serv- 
ants of the minority. They know their masters. They will serve 
them well. There may be anger. There may be disintegration 
threatened in the party. But the machine trusts to the white heat 
of the campaign to fuse the fragments and win the day. It has 
succeeded many times and they depend on high partisan feeling, 
strong devotion to party principles, to carry the ticket througL 
What though the voters do not like the candidates they will surely 
prefer them to the candidates of the other party who have been 
nominated by the same methods. 

This then is the work of the modern caucus and convention. 
No candid man will dispute the facts, or claim that the portrayal 
too strongly presents the defects, or assert that the more debasing 
practices are even hinted at. And this is the practical result of 
a century of effort in self-government. In this land of the free, 
dedicated to the principles of democracy, climbing by the caucus 
and the convention, the machine has mounted to power in nearly 
every state of the union. 

It controls in making the laws. It controls in executing the 
laws. It prostitutes the civil service and does not spare even the 
charitable and penal institutions of the state. It increases the 
burdens of taxation ujion the homes and finds an easy way to 
allow some corjiorations to go untaxed. 

This is government by the caucus and convention. It is not 
representative government. It is not government by the people. 

Is there no way ovit? Is there no remedy? Aye, the way is 
open before us, the remedy is at hand. Let us begin at the bot- 
tom. Under our form of government the entire structure rests 
ujion the nomination of candidates for oflBce. This is the founda- 



Campaign of 1898 109 

tion of the representative system. If bad men control the nom- 
inations we cannot have good government. Let us start right. 
The life principle of representative government is, that those 
chosen to govern shall faithfully represent the governed. To in- 
sure this the representative must be chosen by those whom he is 
to represent. This is fundamental. A system built upon any 
other foundation is not a representative government. By no other 
means can it be established or maintained. The moment that 
any power or authority over the representative comes between 
him and those who have selected him to be their representative 
that moment he ceases to be their representative. His responsi- 
bility is at once transferred to the intervening power or authority. 
He becomes the trustee of this new authority and to it he must 
render account for his actions. It is vital then in representative 
government that no power or authority shall be permitted to come 
between the representative and those whom he is to represent. To 
secure this every complication of detail and method, in any system, 
behind which such intruding power or authority might be con- 
cealed must be torn down and cast aside. The voter, and the can- 
didate for nomination who desires to represent the voter, must 
be brought within reaching distance of each other, must stand 
face to face. 

To accomplish this we must abolish the caucus and conven- 
tion by law, place the nomination of all candidates in the hands 
of the people, adopt the Australian ballot and make all nomina- 
tions by direct vote at a primary election. 

Exactly a -week after delivering his Ann Arbor ad- 
dress Mr. LaFollette was called upon to bear the loss 
of his former law partner, Samuel A. Harper, who died 
March 19, 1898. As LaFollette 's most devoted and 
trusted friend and most effective political promoter, the 
loss was a sore trial at this teeming and critical time. 
Mr. Harper was taken suddenly ill with pneumonia, fol- 
lowing a chill at his office, one night. Mr. LaFollette 
hastened to his bedside on returning from Ann Arbor 
and for several days and nights, without sleep or rest, 
fought a tense and fruitless fight to save his friend's 
life. Said the Baraboo Neivs at the time: "Bob La- 
Follette is a friend worth having. During the critical 
illness of S. A. Harper at Madison lately ex-Congress- 
man LaFollette has been the sick man's most constant 



110 LaFollette's Winning of Wisconsin 

attendant, not having left the Harper home in four 
days." 

Harper was a man of highest ideals in public and pri- 
vate life, of remarkable political astuteness and organ- 
izing capacity. He it was who made possible LaFol- 
lette's first nomination for congress by bringing to La- 
follette's support his (Harper's) native county of Grant, 
as repeatedly he did afterward in the LaFollette causes. 
His fa.th in the future of LaFollette 's fortunes never 
wavered. The doubts of other friends he would invari- 
ably meet with the optimistic and prophetic reply, "Just 
watch LaP'ollette grow," and frequently in after years 
LaFollette remembering this would say with misty eyes, 
"H Sam could only have lived to see this!" 

In first seeking the nomination in 1896 LaFollette 
simply made a short and formal announcement that he 
would be a candidate and set forth no principles or plat- 
form, but in the announcement of his second candidacy 
July 15, 1898, he issued a vigorous and ringing appeal 
to the people of the state — an unusual procedure in Wis- 
consin politics — and presented the issues that pressed 
for solution./ In part he said: 

When it is considered that some of the very corporations which 
wholly escape taxation furnish free transportation to public offi- 
cials under the guise of an official courtesy, the i)as3 and frank 
question becomes an issue in Wisconsin politics which will never 
be settled until the use of passes by public officials is prohibited 
by law. The people of the state will brook no further trifling on 
this subject. No quibbling or evasion will serve. No violation or 
reiiudiation of platform promises will be tolerated. There must 
be filain dealing and no complaint can be made if a bond of good 
faith is demanded with the pledge. 

The jiresence at the state cajiital of powerful lobbyists for 
special interests, with tlieir private legislative chambers — the oper- 
ation of which by a sort of evil contagion extends beyond the 
scope of their original em[iloyment to the defeat of every good 
measure possible — demands the enactment and enforcement of 
laws that shall make this method of influencing legislators a pun- 



Campaign of 1898 111 

ishable offense in the same manner as improperly approaching 
judge or jury in a court of justice. 

That measures to make untaxed proj^erty bear a part of the 
burden of government, to effectively prohibit corrupt practices 
in campaigns, and elections, to secure all possible relief from com- 
binations and trusts that destroy competition and restrain trade, 
to prohibit the acceptance and use of railroad passes, sleeping 
car passes, express, telephone and telegraph franks by public 
officials have not found a place on the statute books of our state 
proves that an all-powerful influence, hostile to the common in- 
terest, controls official action. The people have come to knov? 
that it controls caucuses, names delegates, nominates candidates, 
directs legislation and dominates state administrations. The time 
has come wlien the people of Wisconsin will no longer submit to 
minority control through any political machine, when they will 
demand the abolition of the caucus and convention — by the easy 
manipulation of which the machine rules — and will claim for them- 
selves the sovereign right to make their own nominations by direct 
vote at a primary election under an Australian ballot. 

A sharp campaign by the Scofield and LaFollette par- 
tisans for the election of delegates followed. As in the 
campaigns of 1894 and 1896 LaFollette opened a big 
correspondence bureau, to which in this campaign he 
added pamphleteering, and this feature was not lost to 
the administration which did likewise. 

A. J. Dodge, writing in the Milwaukee Sentinel July 
30, 1898, said: 

In the Fairchild block, Mnin and Pinckrey streets, Mr. La- 
Follette has his law office. This appears to be the busiest law 
office in Wisconsin these days. Clients are passing up and down 
stairs all hours of the day and far into the night. Six or seven 
rooms are occupied by LaFollette and his lieutenants and assist- 
ants. Here and in the office of ' The State ' is located the La- 
Follette "machine." 

It is a headquarters, a gigantic liternrv bureau and a meet- 
ing place for the clan of the Madison candidate. Tons of litera- 
ture and thousands of letters pour out of these rooms and the 
work which was so effective as to place Mr. LaFollette 's name 
in the lead on the first ballot in the last state convention is done 
here. A force of stenographers and typewriters and a dozen or 
fifteen young men jind women are engaged in getting out the lot- 



114 LaFollette's Winning of Wisconsin 

The Sentinel itself criticised the interview as a plea 
for the corporations that would fail of its purpose. It 
said: "lie has laid too much stress on the governor's 
■war record which is not an issue, and he has made no 
reference whatever to the only charge which has given 
Governor Scofield's friends uneasiness." 

The Republican club of Milwaukee county, through 
President Pullen, at once issued a reply to the Spooner 
letter. Declaring there was no precedent for a United 
States senator seeking to influence a nomination for gov- 
ernor, Mr. Pullen said : 

He is, as lie ailniits, unfamiliar with the situation in our state 
politics. He has no information to give the people which the sup- 
porters of Governor Scofield had not made public before. He 
adds nothing to the discussion except some flowers of rhetoric and 
the influence of his position as United States senator. Under 
these conditions the only ]>ur])Ose that Senator Spooner could 
have in making the statements published in the Sentinel is to use 
the position which he now occupies — and in which he was placed 
not less by the supporters of Mr. LaFollette than of Governor 
Scofield — in the interests of the latter. How desperate the situa- 
tion to call for such heroic action the making of the statement 
testified. 

Immed'ately after giving out his interview Senator 
Spooner left for Nantucket and was absent for the re- 
mainder of the season. 

Another incident that temporarily caused the admin- 
istration no little worry and embarrassment was the so- 
called "doodle-book" exposure, made just a week before 
the republican state convention was held. The easy prac- 
tice had grown up in the state treasury of permitting 
its employes to draw their pay in advance. From the 
treasury employes it had spread to persons in other de- 
partments until the practice had become almost general 
in tlie statehouse. 

LaFollette men in the treasury soon di.scovered that 
the exposure of this practice would bo damaging to the 
administration and gave the story to the newspapers 



Campaign of 1898 115 

who featured it iu a sensational manner. When the 
story appeared August 12 both Governor Seofield and 
State Treasurer S. A. Peterson issued statements that 
the practice had been ' ' customary, ' ' but admitted it was 
irregular and that it would be stopped. To counteract 
the advantage given the anti-Scofield forces by this ex- 
posure the administration supporters charged LaFollette 
with receiving financial aid through state money, but 
he entered vigorous denial and denounced the practice. 
Amid regrets from its beneficiaries and speeded by 
doggerel pleasantries, the "doodle-book," which had 
been a brief joy of the paragraphers, thus passed out of 
existence. 



114 LaFollette's Winning of Wisconsin 

The Sentinel itself criticised the interview as a plea 
for the corporations that would fail of its purpose. It 
said: "He has laid too much stress on the governor's 
war record which is not an issue, and he has made no 
reference whatever to the only charge which has given 
Governor Scofield's friends uneasiness." 

The Republican club of Milwaukee county, through 
President Pullen, at once issued a reply to the Spooner 
letter. Declaring there was no precedent for a United 
States senator seeking to influence a nomination for gov- 
ernor, Mr. Pullen said : 

He is, as he admits, unfamiliar with the situation in our state 
politics. He has no information to give the people which the sup- 
porters of Governor Scofield had not made public before. He 
adds nothing to the discussion except some flowers of rhetoric and 
the influence of his position as United States senator. Under 
these conditions the only purpose that Senator Spooner could 
have in making the statements published in the Sentinel is to use 
the position which he now occupies — and in which he was placed 
not less by the supporters of Mr. LaFollette than of Governor 
Scofield — in the interests of the latter. How desperate the situa- 
tion to call for such heroic action the making of the statement 
testified. 

Immediately after giving out his interview Senator 
Spooner left for Nantucket and was absent for the re- 
mainder of the season. 

Another incident that temporarily caused the admin- 
istration no little worry and embarrassment was the so- 
called "doodle-book" exposure, made just a week before 
the republican state convention was held. The easy prac- 
tice had grown up in the state treasury of permitting 
its employes to draw their pay in advance. From the 
treasury employes it had spread to persons in other de- 
partments until the practice had become almost general 
in the statehouse. 

LaPdllette men in the treasury soon discovered that 
the exposure of this practice would be damaging to the 
administration and gave the story to the newspapers 



Campaign of 1898 115 

who featured it in a sensational manner. When the 
story appeared August 12 both Governor Scofield and 
State Treasurer S. A. Peterson issued statements that 
the practice had been "customary," but admitted it was 
irregular and that it would be stopped. To counteract 
the advantage given the anti-Scofield forces by this ex- 
posure the administration supporters charged LaFollette 
with receiving financial aid through state money, but 
he entered vigorous denial and denounced the practice. 
Amid regrets from its beneficiaries and speeded by 
doggerel pleasantries, the "doodle-book," which had 
been a brief joy of the paragraphers, thus passed out of 
existence. 



CHAPTER IX 
The Milwaukee Movement. 

Important Moral and Financial Aid Given Reform Cause — 
Republican Club of Milwaukee County Formed — C. F. P. 
PuLLEN Gives History — Baumoartner and His Work. 

In the meantime a powerful rebellion against the ad- 
ministration was crystallizing in Milwaukee in the shape 
of The Republican club of Milwaukee county. Because 
of the important moral and financial stimulus given the 
reform cause at this critical time by this organization, 
a br.ef notice of the Milwaukee movement may be of 
value. 

As the citadel of the "machine" and the magnetic 
pole of the big business and big politics of the state, Mil- 
waukee might be expected to furnish the best exempli- 
fication of machine politics, which it did. Here were 
developed those high types of the practical politician 
seen in Henry C. Payne, E. C. Wall and Dave Rose, 
who made politics and business synonymous. 

The aggressive designs of the street railway company 
and other corporations as exemplified in these men had 
led to much complaint and sporadic anti-machine or- 
ganizations, and the nomination for mayor about this 
time of such men as W. G. Rauschenberger and Henry 
J. Baumgartner was a protest against high-handed 
machine politics. 

That such practices were giving concern to thoughtful 
and conservative men was further shown in the fact that 
Horace Rublee, editor of the Milwaukee Seiitinel, soon 
to close his distinguished editorial career, advised the 
withdrawal from politics of men of the Henry Payne 
type. 



The Milwaukke Movement 117 

The republican reform movement, as part of the larger 
state movement, manifested itself in a small way in Mil- 
waukee as early as 1894. Theodore Zillmer, later sheriff, 
was one of the first insurgents against the state and 
local machines, as were A. E. Kuolt and former Senator 
John J. Kempf. Kempf had been a state senator in the 
'80s and had been nominated and elected register of 
deeds in 1892 in the face of strong opposition from the 
machine. This opposition had made Kempf an insur- 
gent, as it had Kuolt and others. Before the state con- 
vention in 1894 was held, Kuolt had been offered $100 
and the best suit of clothes in Milwaukee by a later high 
state official, now dead, if he would give up his proxy 
to the convention. This offer simply confirmed Kuolt 's 
opposition to the machine. Accordingly, in the conven- 
tion, Kuolt regarding Haugen as the anti-machine candi- 
date, voted for him from the first ballot. The Haugen 
vote from Milwaukee county went steadily up until it 
reached about 20, Sam Harper of Madison being active 
in bringing about this result. After this convention 
Zillmer, Kuolt, Henry J. Baumgartner, Kempf and a 
few others met and discussed plans of fighting the ma- 
chine. /" In 1896, chiefly under Zillmer 's leadership, they 
secured a majority of the county delegation for LaFol- 
lette, but many of the delegates were switched away from 
LaFollette the night before the nominations were made. 
Proof of bribery was later given the Milwaukee insur- 
gents from various sources, they declared. 

In the spring of 1898 the anti-machine republicans so- 
called had made a hard fight to secure the nomination 
of Henry J. Baumgartner for mayor, in opposition to 
the Payne and street railway machine. William Gender, 
the repubLcan machine candidate, was nominated, but 
a Baumgartner, public-ownership platform was adopted 
with a view to placating the Baumgartner following. 
Gender was defeated by Dave Rose, democrat, the street 
railway candidate, then elected for the first time. 



118 LaFolixtte'8 Winmng of Wiscoitsik 

Immediately following his defeat for the nomination 
Knil that of the republican ticket in the elect. on, friends 
f.f Bauinfjartner resolved to organize for the defeat of 
the "machine" in the future. Then it occurred to the 
minds of some of the insurgent republicans to broaden 
the scheme of organization by taking a stand for certain 
larjre reforms of state interest and making an appeal to 
ihc vtiters upon them. Out of this grew the club which 
may be said to have germinated in the law office of Kron- 
shage. Tarrant, McGovern & Dielmann. 

The idea of some sort of club had been discussed at 
various preliminary meetings, Judge Eugene S. Elliott 
being among others who favored it. One evening F. E. 
ilcGovern, later governor, was designated to represent 
hi.s law firm at a meet.ng to discuss a scheme of organiza- 
tion. .Nothing came of this meeting owing to a division 
on the question of a closed or open organization, so to 
speak. Mr. McGovern opposing anything which resem- 
bled Tammanyism and standing out for an organization 
of such a broad character that it could confidently go 
beffire the people. "It's the only way we can win," 
he said; "the republicans never got anj^thing here by 
pumshre methods." 

At the suggestion of Dr. John J. McGovern and others, 
a meeting was called at the law office of Kronshage, 
Tarrant, MeGovern & Dielmann, Wednesday evening, 
April 20, 1898, and the nucleus of the club was formed. 
Seven men were present at this first meeting, according 
to the reeords which have come down, they being Dr. 
J. J. McGovern, A. E. Kuolt, C. H. Trumpf, H. J. Baum- 
ffartner. A. F. Zentner, Theodore Zillmer and John J. 
Kempf. It is probable that there were at least two 
others present, F. E. McGovern, who, according to the 
memory of some, brought the keys and opened the office, 
and W. n. Tarrant, who, according to Dr. McGovern 's 
recollection, presided informally at the meeting, Kron- 



The Milwaukee Movement 119 

shage being in the east at that time trying a case. Theo- 
dore Zillmer acted as secretary. 

The next meeting was held in the same office April 29, 
John J. Kempf acting as president and Mr. ZiUmer as 
secretary. To this meeting came an additional score of 
insurgents, C. M. Paine, W. D. Tarrant, George Sey- 
bold, F. F. Hyde, Thomas W. Sheriffs, F. C. Lorenz, E. 
W. Choinski, C. A. Menges, J. W. S. Tomkiewicz, David 
Harlowe, W. E. Van Altena, Charles Elkert, John Han- 
nan, James Marlett, Charles Dielmann, L. J. Kreutzberg, 
James L. Norman, John C. Vogenitz, A. J. Stoessel, C. 
C. Maas, D. F. Sherman, M. D. Kelly, J. E. Corrigan 
and Fred W.nkel. 

Steps toward permanent organization were decided 
upon at this meeting, and Chairman Kempf appointed 
the following committees : On principles and resolu- 
tions, Messrs. Paine, Baumgartner, Sheriffs, Lorenz and 
Trumpf; on permanent organization and by-laws, 
Messrs. Lorenz, Kuolt, Stoessel, Harlowe and Corrigan. 
It was voted to invite to the next meeting representatives 
from all wards of the city who might be interested in 
the movement. 

At the next meeting, May 6, which was the first meet- 
ing of the club as such, the following were also present 
and added to the membership : F. E. McGovern, Charles 
Van Ew>-k, W. G. Rauschenberger, C. F. P. Pullen, H. 
0. Reinholdt, A. Markert, G. W. Petermann, Richard 
Schmidt, W. T. Duke, Joseph Vallier, George Reinholdt, 
George Brew. E. D. Carter, M. N. Lando, H. A. Martin 
and August Sonnemann. 

Fifty-five men signed the roll of the club that evening. 
The name of "The Republican Club of Milwaukee 
County" was decided upon for the organization and it 
was voted that the club should consist of three members 
from each ward, town, village and city of the fourth 
class in Milwaukee county. Each ward, village, town 



120 LaFollette's "Winning of Wisconsin 

and city was also to form an auxiliary club, with similar 
officers to the main club and a committee to consist of 
the officers and three other members. Also each auxiliary 
was to elect three members to represent the auxiliary 
in the main club. 

Previous to this meeting Messrs. Baumgartner, Zill- 
mer and Zentner had vis. ted R. M. LaFollette in Madi- 
son and obtained a set of principles which were reported 
at this meeting and adopted by the club. They were 
brief and read as follows : 

As members of the repulilic.in party 've cherish the glory of 
its illustrious past and proclaim an abiding faith in its greater 
future. With affection and reverence for its leaders, living and 
dead, we here declare our devotion to its enduring principles. 

We view with increasing alarm the encroachments of the 
political machine in its control of the great political parties of 
this state. It has steadily increased its power until it threatens 
to subvert the principles of representative government in the 
choice of candidates for office, in state and federal appointments, 
and in the enactment and administration of the laws of the state. 
And we here declare our unalterable opposition to the political 
machine and its methods. 

We here pledge ourselves to use all honorable means to secure 
the nomination of candidates for office known to be loyal and 
steadfast to the following principles: • 

1. Equal and just taxation of all the property of each in- 
individual and of every corporation transacting business within 
the state. 

2. The abolition of the caucus and convention and the nom- 
ination of candidates by Australian ballot at a primary election. 

3. The prohibition of the acceptance of railroad passes, 
sleeping car passes, express, telegraph and telephone franks by 
public officials. 

4. The enactment and enforcement of laws prohibiting trusts 
and combinations that destroy competition and restrain trade. 

Officers were elected as follows : President, C. F. P. 
Pidlen ; vice president, Francis E. ^IcGovern ; secretary, 
Albert E. Kuolt; treasurer, Charles H. Trumpf. It was 
voted to hold the next meeting in Room 13, the Metro- 
politan block, same building. 



The Milwaukee Movement 121 

Caucus 6tli Ward 

Friday, Aug. 12th, 1898 

If you favor the nomination of 

Robert N. La Follette, 

FOR GOVERNOR, 

Vote for the following T delegates to the 
STATE CONVENTION 

FRED. W. CORDS X 
JAKE HART X 
OTTO SEIDEL, Jr. X 
HUGO ZEDLER X 
CHAS. VAN EWEYK X 
J. L. NEDDERSON X 
H. A. SCHWARTZBURG X 



BOOTHS open at 12 NOON and close at 8 P. M. 
Voters living west of Third Street vote at 
Booth on Sherman Street, near 5th. Voters 
living east of Third Street vote at Booth 
on Llo^-d Street near Island Avenue. 



Sample Milwaukee Caucus Ticket, 1898 



122 LaFollette's Winning of Wisconsin 

On May 16 the club added the following new mem- 
bers : Otto Seidel, Charles P. Hart, Otto L. Hahn, F. T. 
Souther, William Gerbardt, Emil Umfried, A. G. R. 
Tews, L. B. tStiles, Ira Luudy, M. J. Brew, George 
Stelloh, while among others added later were Zeno M. 
Host, William A. Arnold, Christ. Doerfler, William Bahr, 
W. J. MeElr(;y, Theodore Puis and Adolph Kurtz. 
Robert M. LaFollette had that day announced his candi- 
dacy for the governorship and the announcement created 
the liveliest interest among the club members at the 
meeting. At this meeting also it was voted to print 
5U,0U0 copies of the principles of the club in English 
and German, and 10,UUU copies in English and Polish, 
for distribution. 

The auxiliary ward organizations grew rapidly, and 
at the weekly meeting, May 23, the following ward com- 
mittees were announced : 

First ward— C. M. Paine, W. D. Tarrant. 

Second ward — Ferd. Paringer, George Seybold, 
Charles Fiebrants. 

Third ward — John Hannan, James Marlett, George 
A. Foster. 

Fourth ward — John J. McGovern, Charles Dielmann, 
T. F. Hyde. 

Fifth ward— T. W. Sheriffs, A. Salisbury, John Joys. 

S:xth ward— C. P. Hart, Charles Van Ewyk, G. W. 
Petermann. 

Sevcntli ward — 

Eighth ward — F. C. Lorenz, Christian Doerfler, L. J. 
Kreutzberg. 

Ninth ward — Richard Schmidt, P. J. Bril, A. A. 
Wieber. 

Tenth ward — H. J. Baumgartner, A. F. Zentner, Theo- 
dore Zillmer. 

Eleventh ward— J. C. Vogenitz, J. L. Norman, E. W. 
Choinski. 



The Milwaukee Movement 123 

Twelfth ward— William Bahr, William T. Duke, Q. D. 
Bosse. 

Thirteenth ward — Charles Menges, A. J. Stoessel, 
John J. Kempf . 

Fourteenth Avard — J. W. S. Tomklewicz, Chas. Esau, 
J. Rajski. 

Fifteenth ward — D. Sherman, George Thuring. 

Sixteenth ward — David Harlowe, M. D, Kelly. 

Seventeenth ward — Joseph Vallier, William Steven- 
son, T. P. Dilyer. 

Eighteenth ward — W. E, Van Altena, M. N. Lando. 

Nineteenth ward — Otto L. Hahn, H. 0. Reinholdt, 
George Reinholdt. 

Twentieth ward — Charles Elkert, F. Wenkel, August 
Sonnemann. 

Twenty-first ward — F. C. Rader, A. Markert, John 
Roth. 

North Greenfield — George Brew, Jacob Conrad, Jr., 
George Stelloh. 

Whitefish Bay — H. K. Curtis, James MeGee. 

Wauwatosa — H. E. Bradley, F. T. Souther. 

Granville — Washington Boorse. 

Franklin — B. Bader, F. Schmidt, F. Brinn. 

Lake — Henry Strothenke, L. Stiles. 

Wauwatosa City — Louis Rogers, Henry Traever. 

Having outgrown its quarters the club accepted an 
invitation to hold its future meetings in the club room 
of the Plankinton hotel, and here the next meeting was 
held May 31. 

Regular weekly meetings were held by the club and 
the work of organization was rapidly extended. A com- 
mittee on campaign literature, with Francis E. McGov- 
ern as chairman, was appointed and another on finance, 
headed by John J. Kempf. 

Under the energetic and effective lead of such men as 
Baumgartner, Zillmer, Kuolt, Dr. McGovern, Kronshage 



1J4 LaFolijcttk's Winmno of Wisconsin 

and President Pullen, a remarkably effective ward or- 
gnnixation was rap.dly built up and the necessary funds 
raised with celerity as needed. The rapid growth of 
the club soon caused apprehension in the regular repub- 
lican county committee which sent a delegation to the 
Plankinton headquarters to inquire into the purposes 
of the new organization and to urge moderation in the 
interests of party harmony. A, E. Kuolt, for one, was 
a member of both the regular county committee and the 
anti-machine organization and was particularly sub- 
jected to pressure by the regulars, Kuolt, Kronshage 
and Kempf had been very active in the spring campaign 
seeking to bring about the nomination of Baumgartner 
for mayor, one result of which was that the Evening 
ir I. ST on. sin read the "three K's" out of the party. 

While not formally endorsing the gubernatorial can- 
didacy of LaFollette until some time after the candidacy 
was announced, the free-masonry of the club was de- 
cidedly pro-LaFollctte. In fact, had not LaFollette 
fome out as a candidate for governor, the activities of 
the club would probably soon have ceased. "We came 
to a point," said F. E. McGovern, "when it became 
ncccjvsary to go either forward or backward. We urged 
LaF( llctte to became a candidate and told him that if 
he (lid not, we would quit; that ours was no debating 
society. After a nearly all-night session with some of 
us, he agreed to be a candidate and true to our word 
we then went enthusiastically into the fight and gave him 
splendid support." 

In fact the devotion of the organization to the La- 
Follette cause was almost of the fanatical kind. So 
R»rict was the unwritten code of loyalty to the cause that 
if a member went over to the opposition through money 
or favors, he was ostracised both socially and in business 
matters. 

However, tlie club thought it advisable to declare that 



The Melwaukee Mo\'ement 125 

its purpose was the advancement of certain political 
principles and ideas, rather than the political fortunes 
of individuals. In a speech before the club, June 22, 
President Pullen said among other things: 

Since the charge has been made that we have organized for 
the purpose of promoting the political advancement of certain in- 
dividuals, I here absolutely deny such to be the case. The test 
of membership in this club is not allegiance to the political for- 
tunes of anyone. Its fight will be for principles, not for men, and 
though it will support for nomination such men, and such men 
only, as are in sincere accord with its priuciples, it will not act 
as a machine for any party candidate. 

The club is born of the necessity of meeting the organized 
power of the machine by an organization equally as potent. When 
the plan upon which it was devised is consummated, as it soon 
will be, it will be representative of the auxiliary clubs located in 
each ward and town of this county and, we trust, of the state. 
Each auxiliary club will elect three representatives who will take 
the places of the gentlemen now representing the various wards 
and towns and who will carry forward the movement thus begun. 

One of the notable thine:s done by the club was the 
issuing of the pamphlet entitled "Governor Scofield's 
Record as Shown by His Official Acts." This was read 
by Chairman F. E. McGovern of the committee on liter- 
ature at the meeting July 18, and on motion of Theodore 
Kronshage was endorsed by the club and ordered 
printed. President Pullen assuming responsibirty for it 
by affixing his name to it. This was a twenty-four page 
pamphlet, perhaps the most scathing review of a public 
official that had so far seen the light in Wisconsin, and 
was perhaps the most effective single influence in the 
campaign in creating a prejudice against Governor Sco- 
field. This was a composite production in which poli- 
ticians professed to see the hand of Gilbert E. Roe of 
Madison, A. R. Hall, and others. 

Besides the charges of general subserviency to the spe- 
cial interests, the pamphlet contained one feature that 
provoked general interest. This was a repetition of A. 
R. Hall's attack upon the governor for having shipped 



126 LaFolixtte's Winning of Wisconsix 

his cow upon an express frank from Oconto to Madison. 
Her story tlius blazoned far and wide, the Scofield cow 
attained a temporary immortality little anticipated by 
her owner when he decided to transfer her from the 
calm retreat of Oconto to the aristocratic atmosphere of 
the capital. 

July '21, 18*J8, at a meeting at the I'lankinton at- 
tended by about fifty members, the club formally en- 
dorsed the candidacy of LaFollette/by the adoption of 
the following resolution : 

WluTi'an, tli(< HciiuMican Club of Milwaukee County was or- 
pinizrd to further certain principles by it adopted, and to use 
all hnnornMo means to secure the nomination of candidates for 
offiro known to be loyal and steadfast to these principles, there- 
fore, lio it resolved, that this club endorse the candidacy of the 
Hon. Kolxjrt M. LaFoilette for governor as best representing the 
objccls and principles of this club. 

As indicating tlio active part the clnb had already 
taken in the campaign, Theodore Kronshage. chairman 
of the cfmmittee on organizat on, reported that clubs 
had l)e«'n formed in all wards but nine, while F. E. Mc- 
Govern, chairman of the crmmittee on literature, re- 
ported the distribution to date of 75,000 copies of the 
pamphlet reviewing Governor Scofield 's record and 
13,(KX) copies of President Pullcn^s speech. 

It will thus be seen that the club had quickly devel- 
oped into a factor of the largest importance. /The ef- 
fcctivene8.s of its organization was seen in the fact that 
in the primaries hold August 12. the club won for La- 
F( Ijette half of the delegation, 144 members, to the re- 
publican state convention. 

The last meeting of the club that year was lield August 
31, when it was voted to invite Mr. LaFoilette to come 
to Mdwaukec and make a siieech under its auspices. 

Iiitoresting as showing some of the natural elements 
out of which the LaFoilette movement grew, is the case 
"f P-'sident Pullen of the Milwaukee club, as Pullen's 



The Milwaukee Movement 127 

first inspiration was the impulse to aid an old friend. 
Pullen had known LaFollette from boyhood. H.s father 
had come to the little village of Argyle, Lafayette county, 
Wisconsin, from Maine, about 1850, and started a store. 
Next door was another store kept by an old man named 
John Z. Saxton. One day in the '60s Saxton brought 
home a bride with several children. She was Mrs. Mary 
LaFollette of Primrose before her marriage to Saxton. 
Not long afterward while Pullen was playing with Perry 
C. Wilder, later to be prominent in poLtical life, and a 
number of other boys, a bright little chap came up and 
said, "My name is Bob LaFollette; what is yours?" It 
was the beginning of a lifelong friendship of this trio. 
/ Said Mr. Pullen on this point : / 

Bob was no different from the rest, no brighter in school, no 
better; perhaps more mischievous. We grew up together, played 
together, tried to learn to smoke and chew, became awfully sick, 
and did other things usual with boys. 

I remember that during the latter days of the civil war we formed 
a boys' fife and drum corps with little Bobbie as a fifer. We 
had a picture taken which I have since lost. One morning on the 
way to Sunday school we went down to the Pecatonica river. 
There was a great flood with the river nearly a mile wide. Prying 
a great cake of ice loose, Bob, Perry Wilder, and I, with some 
other boys, got on it and were carried several miles down the 
river, at very great peril, before we could land. We missed Sun- 
day school, but my folks didn 't know of it for years. 

Bob soon went back to the Primrose farm liome. Then father 
moved to Evansville, Green county, followed by the Wilder, An- 
drews and other families and Bob came back with us for a term 
in the seminary at Evansville. 

We had no hand in the Haugen cami)aign in 1894 as an or- 
ganization and had not yet begun to formulate any definite ideas 
on the contest that was shaping in Wisconsin. I remember I at- 
tended the republican state convention at the Academy of Music 
in 1896 and saw them sit down on A. R. Hall and his anti-pass 
resolution. I was using a good many passes myself then and 
rather disliked the possibility of losing them. So I felt more 
comfortable when they refused to put Hall's resolution in the 
platform, but I didn 't like the rough way in which he was treated, 
and it set me to thinking, and I soon became an anti-pass advo- 



118 LAFouxnx'a Winning of Wisconsin 

rat* niTM-lf. I felt, too, that the brusque way Keyes and the 
otbor t'tWont had of running things was not quite right, although 
tny father, while a mcmlKjr of the legislature, had voted for Keyes 
for UattPtl States senator. 

W« mczf itoaXeii in 1h96, though \>y all figuring before and 
Binc« I believe we were entitled to the nomination. 

It was in 1H9S, when LaFolh-tte became a candidate for the 
■erood time, that we first organized in Milwaukee. Our families 
»iad all met at Evansville that spring for a reunion and Bob had 
(Uggi^tod that I SCO what I could do for him in Milwaukee. La- 
Kollctte had always counseled with me in matters political; when 
he ran for district attorney and again when running fox congress, 
and wbi-n bo issued his reply to Sawyer in 1891. I remember we 
told him when ho aspired to congress in 1884 that he could hardly 
boje to boat the Koycs crowd, but since he had nothing to lose 
and everything to gain, to go in. Also when he came to Milwaukee 
with his expose of Sawj'er, we said we were fearful of the con- 
•equonccs and that he couldn 't hope to make the public take his 
word agninst that of so big a man as Suwycr, but he went ahead 
anyway. 

Well, on returning from Evansville T talked with Theodore 
Kronnhnge, Francis E. McGovern and W. D. Tarrant, then all 
young lawyers recently out of the university, Dr. J. J. McGovern, 
and others and wo decided to call a meeting. 

Our first meetings were held at the law offices of Kronshage, 
Tarrant, MclJovern tc Dielmann, in the Metropolitan block. Third 
and State streeta, but the room proving rather small we soon met 
i« the club room of the Plankiritun hotel, which had been offered 
u». Wo adopte<l the name "The Re|)ublican Club of Milwaukee 
County." I was elected president, Francis E. McGovern, vice 
prmiident, and AllK?rt E. Kuolt, then an active young bank clerk, 
•pcrotary. Kronshngc also was backed for president, but because 
of my lifelong fricnd.ship with LnFollctte, I was regarded as the 
logical mon for the |>lnce. I romomber I wrote out and made an 
Insurgent speech, the first of its kind of which I know. We met 
once a week and the club grew very fast. /We appointed com- 
mttte4<« in nearly every precinct and began organizing the field 
for I^Follctto. Wo didn 't talk LaFolletteism at first, but rather 
anti mnrhine republicanism, having gotten our ideas from LaFol- 
l«tto. In fact wo didn't dare to admit that the organization was 
for tb«» tup,>ort of IjiFollette. I waa scared myself, because I 
waa a banker and wa.-t told that I would lose my head and my 
buainoM If I |>ersUted in my activity. "How?" I asked. "Well, 
the r«ilroada will fix you," was the reply./ In fact, we received 



The Milwaukee Movement 129 

notices of that kind all along. E. I. Kidd, later bank examiner, 
received similar warnings for his activity. One of the means 
taken to impress us was to make the railroad men draw their 
funds out of certain banks. But the real purpose of our organi- 
zation couldn't long be kept down and as we got stronger we 
became bolder. 

Soon, we had a delegation from the regular republican county 
committee of Milwaukee call on us. One of the delegation, Alec 
Hill, wanted to know what we were ' ' doing with all that organ- 
izing; " it was causing much excitement in their cam}). We told 
him that we were republicans, but believed in certain progressive 
principles, and succeeded in sending the delegation back somewhat 
reassured, but they warned us against getting off the reservation. 

Then we got out the anti-Scofield pamphlet. I took the re- 
sponsibility for this publication and signed my name to it for the 
club. Tlilis was printed in English, German, Polish and other 
languages and thousands of copies were sent out. It caused quite 
a sensation and brought much criticism upon me. My old friend, 
Joe Treat, and Charles Pfister and others of the party managers, 
called on me and asked me to retract and said we were making 
trouble for the party, but I replied that the democrats would 
make such charges anyway, and we might as well face them and 
correct them ourselves. 

Then came the two-column letter in the sSentincI from Senator 
Spooner, urging the renomination of Governor Scofield. The same 
day Gil Eoe telephoned me from Madison, ' ' something must be 
done" to rejdy to it. I told him to come right in to Milwaukee 
and we would reply. We stayed up all night in Kronshage 's office 
drawing up a reply which I signed and took to the Sentinel office. 
While we were talking with Editor Myrick about it, an old man 
sitting near asked, "What's that you're talking aliout?" I didn't 
know him but let him see the paper. He was Captain Bean, one 
of the directors of the Sentinel company, and after reading it he 
told Myrick to print it. 

Such were some of the incidents of our early activities. 

I Dr. John J. McGovern said of his part in the move- 
ment : 

As I rememl)er it, I called the first meeting in Milwaukee 
which was the beginning of the new repul)lican movement there. 
I came to Milwaukee in 1893. Soon afterward I attended a re- 
publican preliminary held in Campbell's hall in the third ward, 
to elect delegates to various conventions. Of the twenty or thirty 



130 LaFollette's Winninc of Wiscoxsix 

men proposed for delegates I didn 't know more than three or 
four. That fact, togetlier with the manner in which the meeting 
was run by certain men, set me thinking and I decided that there- 
after I would not vote for men I did not know as was the practice 
in caucuses. I would know the men. 

There were others who didn 't like tlie way things were being 
run politically and one of these was Henry J. Baumgartner, who 
was such a fearless fighter in the city council and once the repub- 
lican candidate for mayor. Baumgartner should be given the 
highest credit in the inspiration and launching of the reform 
movement in Milwaukee. He was a power among the working- 
men on the north side, a fearless fighter of graft in the council, 
always true blue and absolutely incorruptible. Many of us have 
felt that he was counted out of the mayoralty. If he was honestly 
defeated it was not that the integrity and courage of the man 
were questioned, but because many who would liked to have suj)- 
ported him felt that he was too radical and outspoken and might 
carry things too far if given power. He was ahead of his time; 
the civic conscience and courage of Milwaukee had not yet been 
sufficiently aroused. More education was needed. 

Through the inspiration of Sam Harper we had l)een active 
for LaFoUette in 1896, in a rather unorganized way. Harper 
was then the presideitt of the League of Republican Clubs of the 
state and when the party machine leaders attempted to throw him 
out and elect AI. G. Jeffris as president, we helped retain him in 
his place. To show how we had already become identified with 
the new movement I may say that when Harper died in March. 
189S, Baumgartner, W. G. Rauschenberger, Pullen, Zentner, Zill- 
mer, John Corrigan and myself, besides others, went to Madison 
to his funeral. 

In the sjiring before LaFollette's second campaign for the 
governorship a number of us who were opposed to the way things 
were being run first met in the law office of Kronshage, Tarrant, 
McGovcrn & Diolmann, at my suggestion. While not entirely cer- 
tain on that point, I believe that among those present were Henry 
J. Baumgartner, John J. Kempf, Theodore Zillmer, Theodore 
Kronshage, W. D. Tarrant, A. E. Kuolt, August Zentner, myself 
and my younger brother, Francis E. McGovern. I think Tarrant 
presided at the meeting. 

When LaFollette came out as a candidate, our efforts crystal- 
lized into something concrete under his leadership. We became a 
j)art of the LaFollette movement. Baumgartner, Zillmer and 



The MiLWAinvEE Movement 131 

Zentner went to Madison and got a set of principles from La- 
Follette which became the creed and propaganda of our organiza- 
tion. 

It may here be said that in 1900 the friends of Baum- 
gartner succeeded in having him nominated, against 
Wade H. Richardson, but Baumgartner also was to be 
defeated by Rose, who was now supported by the ma- 
chine men of both parties. Baumgartner is believed to 
have lost many votes by taking the stump and urging 
his then radical program in his fiery manner. His 
friends begged him not to go out, and as one of them 
afterward said, "prayed that he might break a leg or 
otherwise be incapacitated," but to no avail. His ora- 
tory was of the fervent kind. He would leap into the 
air while speaking and if there were no table to pound 
he would get down and pound the floor. 

In the Baumgartner campaign the club placed La- 
Follette's picture over the ward tickets, thus tieing up 
the Baumgartner with the LaFollette cause. 

Of the club it remains to be said that it was reorgan- 
ized June 11, 1900, and was more or less active in that 
campaign and in that of 1902. 

It is possible that an even greater service was rendered 
the reform cause by this club in 1904 than in the earlier 
campaigns. It was very close to the time of the repub- 
lican caucuses and the club, as an organization, had as 
yet done nothing when it occurred to Francis E. Mc- 
Govern, then seeking the nomination for district attor- 
ney, that something should be done to secure delegates 
for LaFollette. A meeting was called at once and the 
club reorganized with E. L. Tracy as president and 
Henry F. Cochems as secretary. A sharp campaign was 
prosecuted and because of previous organization, an ef- 
fective one, as LaFollette won a third or more of the 
delegates from the county. /Without this support from 
Milwaukee and its moral effect, his political fortunes in 



132 



I^aFouxtte's Winning of Wisioxsix 



the italc convention mifrlit have met a much more crucial 
Xft than they experienced. 

In the matter of sending progressive representatives 
from Its city to the legislature, however, the club ap- 
pear* to have been less interested or at least less success- 
ful The generality of legislators from Milwaukee dur- 
ing the so-called LaFollette regime was reactionary and 
hostile to the reform movement. Indeed it came to be 
•cccptfd as a truism in the LaFollette camp that "noth- 
ing good can come out of Milwaukee." 

Yet bearing in mind the official atmosphere which per- 
vaded the Milwaukee city hall during this period; re- 
membering the unmoral makeup of the official mind as 
revealed later in the McGovern graft prosecutions, and 
the further fact that the first McGovern grand jury re- 
ported in effect that it was "too rotten" to act, and 
asked to be discharged, there will be less wonder at the 
legislative product of the time. 




8««ii« on l<aKuUctte K.irm. Madison, Wis. 



CHAPTER X 

Convention of 1898. 

LaFollette a Three-Week Candidate— Rumors op "Dark- 
Horse" TO Be Entered— Stirring Convention Scenes— Sco- 
FiELD Renominated— Progressive Advance in Platform. 

Governor SCOFIELD owed his renomination that 
year, first, to the fact that the machine managers decided 
not to disturb him and, next, to the second term prece- 
dent and political habit of thought of the people, the 
conservative disposition to give a man a second trial 
even if found wanting in the first. Remembering the 
ease with which tliej^ had eliminated Upham two years 
before, there was a disposition among some of the or- 
ganization leaders to also sidetrack Scofield and again 
present a new man with no record to handicap him such 
as Upham had acquired and which Scofield had dupli- 
cated. Congressman Babcock favored H. C. Adams of 
Madison, later congressman, on the ground that Adams 
would also have strength with the insurgent element. 
However, the more astute managers felt that it was too 
critical a time to court any possible demoralization in 
their ranks on which LaFollette might seize to advan- 
tage. Besides Scofield himself might make trouble if a 
change were attempted. A politician and former legis- 
lator himself and of different mettle from Upham, he 
might not be so easily shooed off after one term. It was 
decided it would be unwise to attempt swapping horses 
while crossing the political stream ahead and Scofield 
was endorsed for renomination. 

But the machine was yielding. It was willing to adopt 
anti-corporation platforms if it could name its men to 
enforce the laws. This vaudeville performance had been 
given trial in Milwaukee that spring when a corporation 



l?,i LaFoi.i.kttk's Winm.nc of Wisconsin 

candidate for mayor was nominated on an anti-corpora- 
tion platform and had resulted in the defeat of the can- 
didate by 8,700 votes, jUthough Milwaukee was normally 
republican. It was nevertheless now proposed to re- 
nominate Scofield on a LaFollette platform. 

LaFollette did not formally announce his candidacy 
until July 15. This left practically but three weeks for 
the securing of delegates before the state convention, 
but so fast and furious a campaign did LaFollette wage 
that the administration organs expressed the utmost con- 
cern. Although none of them were delegates, the big 
stalwart field marshals, Sawyer, Payne, Pfister, Keyes 
and others, were again early on hand at the convention 
to manipulate and hold their forces in line. Persistently 
the possibility was suggested of a third candidate being 
brought out to defeat both the warring principals. Tp 
to the very day of the convention this mighty and sinister 
figure, whose identity none' could guess, was conjured 
up, but he failed to materialize. Hope of trading possi- 
bilities in case of emergency was doubtless the main con- 
sideration of the stalwarts in grooming this man of 
straw. However, when the convention opened at Mil- 
waukee August 17 there was no little apprehension in 
the minds of the Scofield supporters. AVhile the regu- 
lars won the day the convention was to prove little bet- 
ter than a Pyrrhic victory. It was one of the most 
fiercely contested nominations in the history of the state 
and was replete with striking incidents as yet unre- 
corded. 

Almost at the opening they were forced to yield 
ground and make a practical concession of error. As 
if to absolve the candidates from any platform promis<^s 
the supporters of Scofield sought to rush through the 
nominations of candidates before adopting a platform. 
The LaFollette men jumped to their feet in objection. 

"Before T vote for a candidate for governor," said 



CoNVEXTiox OF 1898 135 

Gen. George E. Bryant, "I want to know what platform 
he stands on. Two years ago we had an anti-pass reso- 
lution adopted bj' the convention and the governor who 
had been nominated before that resolution was passed 
refused to recognize it." 

Finally the Scofield forces yielded and an adjourn- 
ment was taken until evening. 

Largely through the efforts of Gilbert E. Roe, LaFol- 
lette's former law partner, who fought persistently in 
the committee on resolutions for a progressive platform, 
an advanced set of principles, largely formulated by La- 
Follette, Hall and Davidson, was reported to the con- 
vention. Ever since 1886 the party platforms had been 
silent on state issues, contenting themselves with en- 
dorsements of national platforms and the waving of the 
bloody shirt. The platform of 1898 was therefore nota- 
ble. Among other things it pronounced against the pass 
-evil, the lobby, tlie "doodle book" and the Bennett law 
bogie, and favored more equal taxation (railroad taxa- 
tion). Also there was a squinting toward primary elec- 
tion endorsement in the following equivocal pronounce- 
inent — the ^nearest approach to a primary plank that Mr. 
Roe could secure : 

Recognizing that the jjresent caucus and convention law is 
not free from defects, we favor such legislation as will secure to 
every citizen the freest expression of his choice in the selection 
of candidates. 

A minorit}^ platform report which omitted anj^ spe- 
cific endorsement of Governor Scofield was presented 
by Mr. Roe and the first test vote of the convention 
came on the question of its adoption. The majority re- 
port was adopted by a vote of 6431/2 to 4161/2. /The 
nominations were not made until after midnight follow- 
ing a stormy evening session in which charges of money 
and trading flew back and forth. The LaFoIlette forces 
fought with a courage and enthusiasm that called forth 
wonder on all sides. The Madison man was placed in 



136 LaFollette's Winmnt, of Wisconsin 

nomination in a spirited oratorical effort by A. H. Long, 
warmly seconded by Henry F. Cochems and others, while 
A. R. Hall made a fiery attack on Scofield, declarinnr the 
governor had pledged himself to anti-pass legislation, 
but had secretly worked against it. He also scored Sco- 
field for congratulating the people on their pleasant re- 
lations with the railroads, and i)ointed to specific in- 
stances of discrimination and tax-dodging on the part 
of the roads. 

Ira B. Bradford presented the name of Scofield, the 
final vote standing: Scofield, 620i/o ; LaFollette, 436V.; 
C. E. Estabrook. H; FawW Baensch. 2. 

Scofield was thus renominated, but on practically a 
LaFollette platform. As a sign of further concessions 
the Scofield forces also gave the nomination for state 
treasurer to a LaFollette adherent^ Assemblyman James 
0. Davidson, later governor, but, it is said, that in order 
that he might not forget to whom he owed the favor it 
was arranged to give him the nomination by a margin 
of but one-half vote. 

If this is true it illustrates how trifles determine des- 
tiny. This nomination so narrowly won no doubt led to 
Davidson's eventual elevation to the governor's chair. 
Davidson, by the way, had previously won a somewhat 
similarly narrow victory when he was seated in an as- 
sembly contest in a democratic house by a margin of one 
vote. One of his friends remarked that " as a close shave 
for fame ]\Iadame Roland's snatching of immortality at 
the last moment on the gallows by her exclanmtion, *Ah, 
Liberty! how many crimes are committed in thy name!' 
thus had a sort of parallel in this instance. So nigh is 
grandeur to our dust." 

LaFollette had failed of the nomination again, but 
had made such important gains that it was a moral vic- 
tory. So strong had become the sentiment in favor of 
primary elections and equal taxation that planks en- 



Convention of 1898 137 

dorsing these principles were incorporated in the demo- 
cratic platform that year. The republican ticket was, 
however, elected. 

LaFollette took no part in the campaign following the 
convention. The strain of the pre-convention fight 
proved too great and while trying a law case in Baraboo 
in October he was taken very ill. He had agreed on 
many dates and had planned to open in his native town 
of Primrose. So ill was he that for a time much anxiety 
was felt by his family and friends. On November 26, 
after he had been in bed five weeks, a newspaper dis- 
patch stated that he was unable to take any nourish- 
ment, being unable to keep even malted milk on his 
stomach. For a time there were fears for his life, but 
eventual^ he became himself again. Nevertheless he 
did not escape the charge that he was simply sulking in 
his tent. 

The democrats adopted a strongly progressive plat- 
form with this unequivocal declaration on primary elec- 
tions : 

We are in favor of a ])riniary election law to replace the 
present method of nominating candidates for office and that all 
nominations shall be made by a direct vote of the people. 

Judge H. W. Sawyer of Hartford was nominated for 
governor. Nevertheless Scofield was re-elected. LaFol- 
lette having been twice defeated for the nomination for 
governor, it was assumed by the opposition, and by many 
of his friends as well, that he would not again be a can- 
didate in 1900. ]\Iany men quit at one defeat; many 
more at two. 

More responsive to the public demand too and in hope 
of laying somewhat the dangerous LaFollette agitation, 
the legislature of that year, which was also regular, re- 
deemed in part the platform pledges made. Although 
the railroads announced immediately after the election 
that they had voted to continue the giving of passes 



138 LaFoi.i.kttk'.s Winmnc; ok Wisconsin 

to leprislators as usual, in spite of anti-pass planks in 
the platform of both the republican and democratic par- 
ties, the legrislature of 1S09 finally passed an anti-pass 
law when the session was about over, and after many 
members had used jnisses industriously all winter. 
Thus after eigiit lonpr years of fijrhtin^ A. R. Hall was 
to see one of his cherished reforms established. Also 
the legrislature enacted the Whitehead bills for the taxa- 
tion of sleeping car, express, freight line and equipment 
comi)anies similar to the Davidson bills vetoed in 1897 
and made j)erman<'nt the tax commission created in 
1897. But it killed the primary election bill introduced 
by Gen. George E. Bryant, then the Madison member 
of the assembly, and also the bills by A. R. Hall for the 
taxation and regulation of railroads and the creation 
of a railroad commission, which bills Hall had likewise 
pressed in the legislature of 1895, only to see them go 
down in defeat. 

Thus the issues of primary elections and railway taxa- 
tion and regulation remained unsettled and gave prom- 
ise of looming big on the horizon of the next campaign. 



CHAPTER XI 
LaFollette's First Nomination and Election. 

Many Candidates in Field — Important Dual Victory of La- 
FoLLETTE Foreshadows His Nomination — Opposing Candidates 
Rapidly Withdraw — Spooner Announces Determination to 
Quit Senate — Unanimous Nomination of LaFollette — ^Ee- 

MARKABLE SPEAKING ToUR AND GrEAT ENTHUSIASM FOR CANDI- 
DATE. 



A 



FREE field presenting itself in 1900, five repub- 
lican candidates were early in the race for the nomina- 
tion for governor. They were Senator John M. White- 
head of Janesville, Senator A. M. Jones of Waukesha, 
Senator De Wayne Stebbins of Algoma, General Earl M. 
Rogers of Viroqua and Ira B. Bradford of Augusta. 

No one of these five, however, was a strong candidate 
and no one represented to a satisfactory degree the new 
movement in the party. All made their bids for sup- 
port on a plea for "harmony." 

After his two defeats for the nomination it was as- 
sumed by many that LaFollette would not again be a 
candidate in 1900, and for some weeks after the others 
were in the field he was scarcely mentioned in the press 
as a possibility. Gradually, however, a demand that he 
be a candidate sprang up in different parts of the state. 
Newspapers pointed out that his fight with Scofield two 
years before had resulted in much good legislation. It 
was better than a nambj^-pamby policy of "harmony" 
they declared, and LaFollette should come forth as a 
candidate again. On the other hand many papers 
frowned on such suggestion. The Waiisau Record, for 
instance, said there was "no room in the state for a per- 
sonal party." 

At last in response to the call going up to him from 



140 L.vFollette's Winning of Wisconsin 

all parts of the state he decided to enter the field and 
aiinouiR-ed his candidacy in the Milwaukee Sentinel May 
16. It is interesting to note that on the day when he 
went to Milwaukee with this announcement there was 
met before the tax commission at Madison a great array 
of attorneys of all the railroads in Wisconsin, who ar- 
pued that so far from paying less than their share of 
taxes the railroads were paying more than other prop- 
erty and in Wisconsin proportionatel}- more than in 
other states. 

While LaFollette's announcement set forth the need 
of continued progress in legislation it did so in very gen- 
eral terms and the announcement was quite conciliatory 
as compared to his call to arms in 1898. He referred 
to the better feeling within the party and said he would 
do all he could consistent with principle to promote and 
maintain this feeling. 

Mr. LaFollette's entrance in the field immediately set 
the press of the state agog with discussion. Yet, strange 
to say, the majority of the newspapers at first doubted 
his ability to secure the nomination. Even Judge Keyes 
wiiile on a visit to LaCrosse in June doubted LaFollette's 
ability to carry his home county. Yet the very general 
di.scussion which he precipitated soon showed that he 
oouUl not hv considered merely a local candidate like 
the others. Activity in his behalf began manifesting 
it.self in all parts of the state. Traveling men reported 
that small country merchants were everywhere "talking 
LuFollette." 

Soon after his annomicement the opposition raised the 
question as to whether or not LaFollette was hostile to 
Senator John C. Spooner. and if he would use the gov- 
ernorship, in case of his election, as a stepping stone or 
lever to displace Spooner. It would be natural to ex- 
pect that LaFollette would not be kindly disposed to- 
ward Spooner in view of the latter 's attack on the candi- 



LaFollettic's First Nomination and Election 141 

daey of LaFollctte in 1898. So general became a rumor 
to this effect in tlie anti-LaFollette press that to setth'; 
it LaFoUette gave out an interview May 30 that he would 
do nothing to prevent the re-election of Spooner, that 
he would be neutral in the matter of the senatorship and 
his sole purpose would be to so conduct the affairs of the 
state as to entitle him to re-election as governor, / He 
even gave credit to Governor Scofield and the legislature 
for what had been accomplished during the legislative 
session just closed. In an interview in the Milwaukee 
Sentinel, May 31, LaFoUette said: "In this connection 
it may be as well to say something with reference to my 
candidacy of two years ago. My reasons for being a 
candidate at that time were justified and emphasized by 
the convention in its platform. It has been largely the 
faithful observance of the pledges then given which en- 
titles Governor Scofield 's administration, at this time, 
to public approval, in which I heartily join." 

In May, 1902, the Milwaukee Sentinel printed a series 
of letters that had passed two years before between H. 
G. Kress of Manitowoc and Henry C. Payne to show 
that Mr. LaFoUette had been willing in 1900 to treat 
with the "machine." The first letter written by Mr. 
Kress to Mr. Payne was dated May 3, 1900, nearly two 
weeks before LaFoUette announced his candidacy. 
After referring to the fight that had been made by La- 
FoUette men on Payne's re-election to the national com- 
mittee at the state convention recently held in Milwaukee 
for the election of delegates to the national convention, 
the letter continued : 

Why can 't we get together ? Do you object if the contesting 
against you is stopped? Confidentially, Mr. Payne, I believe the 
time is ripe to unite forces. Why not let LaFoUette have his 
chance if he is willing to stop fighting on his side? I will say 
that I was authorized by certain LaFoUette leaders to see you the 
evening before the convention, but I found you were out of the 
city. They knew I was your friend and was also friendly to Bob. 
Those young fellows are a growing strength and will increase in 



142 LaF()mj:tti:'.s Winni.vc; of Wisconsin 

power yearly. We can liavo tlioni witli ns liy a little <liploinacy 
at this time. ' ' 

Mr. Payne replied by letter May 5 that he deplored 
the factionalism within the party and would be willing 
to meet Mr. Kress for further consultation. Accordingly 
on May 11 Kress and Jerre C. Murphy called on Mr. 
Payne, who suggested that written propositions be sub- 
mitted. Later such propositions were j)resented as fol- 
lows : 

1. That there is no opposition so far as LaFollette is con- 
cerned to you as chairman or as a member of the national com- 
mittee. 

2. That neither you nor Mr. Pfister would work against Mr. 
LaFollette for governor if he decided to be a candidate. 

3. Both sides to keep hands off the next senatorial light — 
that is, in this campaign. 

4. That interests be mutualized as time advances. 

The propositions were finally rejected by Payne, who 
declared that as a friend of Senator Spooner he could 
not subscribe to them, and nothing definite and tangible 
came of the efforts of ]\Ir. Kress. 

However, it is po.ssible that the very fact that such 
negotiations were attempted may have tended to soften 
the feelings between the tAvo factions. It established a 
sort of truce, as it were. In the meantime, LaFollette 
had made his friendly announcement as a candidate and 
followed it ^lay 30 with an interview of like tenor, while 
Payne was so engrossed with the national convention 
then approaching as to find little time for state politics. 
Also in the meantime the LaFollette hu.stlers through- 
out the state were industriously carrying county after 
county for him by methods more friendly than they had 
pursued in the past. It may therefore be within bounds 
to say that the Kress negotiations were not wholly de- 
void of results. 

"When LaFollette read his message in 1001, nuiking 
firm demand for the reforms in taxation he had so long 
championed, a cry wont up from the railroads and other 



LaFollktte's FmsT Noaii.natio.n a.nd Election 143 

corporations that he was "not placing fair;" that he 
had agreed in the campaign to treat the railroads and 
other corporations justly and that with that understand- 
ing they had not opposed him, and consequently he had 
been accorded a unanimous nomination and no opposi- 
tion at the polls. It was said that a truce and pact had 
been brought about through Congressman Babcock and 
Henry Casson. It is true that in the winter and early 
spring of 1900 LaFollette and Babcock held a long dis- 
tance flirtation between Madison and Washington and 
it may be that Babcock labored to make the railroads 
and other corporations "lay down," as many people be- 
lieved and still believe that he and Henry C. Payne did. 
The so-called Kress letters, published in 1902, have been 
cited to support this view. But Babcock engineered no 
deal between LaFollette and the railroads nor is he en- 
titled to any particular credit for bringing about the 
nomination of LaFollette. The nomination was inevita- 
ble that year and it was doubtless the realization of that 
fact and the wisdom of being as agreeable as possible to 
the inevitable that influenced the astute railroad heads 
in the matter. Indeed at a meeting at dinner in the 
Grand Pacific hotel in Chicago that spring between La- 
Follette and Babcock the former told Babcock frankly 
that he did not expect to be able to work with him be- 
cause their methods were directly opposed, he, (LaFol- 
lette) believing in working through the people from the 
bottom up, while Babcock 's method was from the top 
down. 

It is related that Babcock was informed at the Chicago 
headquarters by Henry C. Payne that nothing could 
prevent the nomination of LaFollette and that he re- 
plied with tears in his eyes: "I know it and I hate to 
see it." But Babcock realized that he needed the sup- 
port of the heavy LaFollette element in his district to 
be renominated. At the state convention in 1898 he had 



Hi LaFui.ikttk's Winning of Wisconsin 

secretly worked ag^ainst LaFoUette until warned by the 
LaFoUette men to desist if he valued his future pros- 
pects. Accordingly he did such marked work in La- 
FoUette 's interest in the campai^rn of 1900 that the as- 
sumed "Bob-Bab" alliance became a byword with cer- 
tain opposition newspapers. Not only did many of his 
old opponents cease their warfare upon him, but they 
sought his camp. "LaFoUette did not want their help — 
then," said one of his supporters of the time, "he would 
rather have beaten them that year; but they were so 
friendly we could not keep them out of the office." 

It was hinted too in that legislative session that La- 
FoUette had mafic the railroads some promise in a letter 
to Thomas II. Oill, attorney for the "Wisconsin Central, 
which he was not observing. This letter, it may now be 
said, had been written by LaFoUette with great care and 
in oonsultation with advisers, as it was felt it might be 
highly important in the future, but for some reason it 
never saw the light of publicity until brought out by 
Lincoln StefTens in his famous magazine article in 1904. 
That LaFoUette had made the railroads no promises is 
shown by the letter, which follows: 

Madison, Wis., May 12, 1900. 
Dear Tom: 

You hnvo boon my porsoiml nnrl political friond for twenty 
Tears. Should I become a candidate for the nomination for gov- 
frnor, I want your continued support, if you can consistently ac- 
cord it to mo. But you are the attorney for the Wisconsin Cen- 
tral R. R. Co., and I am not willing that you should be placed in 
any poiition where you could be subjected to any criticism or 
embarrawmcnt with your employers on my account. For this 
roanon, I dcjiiro to state to you in so far as I am able my position 
in ndation to the question of railway taxation, which has now 
t>iH'om« one of public interest, and is likely to so continue until 
rightly wsttled. This I can do in a very few words. 

Railroad rorporntions should pay neither more nor less than a 
ju»tlT proportionate share of taxes with the other taxable property 
of tho iitatp. If I were in a position to pass officially upon a bill 
to eliongo existing law, it would bo my first care to know whether 



LaFoli^tte's First Nomixatiox axd Election 145 

the rate therein proposed was just in proportion to the property 
of other corporations and individuals as then taxed, or as therein 
proposed to be taxed. The determination of that question would 
be controlling. If such rate was less than the justly proportionate 
share which should be borne by the railroads, then I should favor 
increasing it to make it justly ^proportionate. If the proposed 
rate was more than the justly proportionate share, in comparison 
with the property of other corporations, and of individuals taxed 
under the law, then I should favor decreasing to make it justly 
proportionate. 

In other words, I would favor equal and exact justice to each 
individual and to every interest, yielding to neither clamor on the 
one hand, nor being swerved from the straight course by any in- 
terest upon the other. This position, I am sure, is the only one 
which could commend itself to you, and cannot be criticised by 
any legitimate business honestly managed. 

Sincerely yours. 

A conspicuous accession to the LaFollette ranks about 
this time was former C'ongrressman Isaac Stephenson, the 
wealthy Marinette lumberman, whose relations with La- 
Follette and the latter 's followers were to become his- 
toric. "Whether the first advances toward the LaFollette- 
Stephenson alliance were made by emissaries of the Mad- 
ison man, or originated in Marinette, is unimportant, but 
it is generally agreed that Stephenson's chief motive in 
taking up LaFollette 's cause was to obtain revenge on 
Spooner and other old-time associates for not support- 
ing his senatorial aspirations in 1899. By taking up 
with the new and rising leader he saw a possible oppor- 
tunity for unhorsing Spooner and probably getting his 
seat himself. If LaFollette promised the senatorship to 
Stephenson at this time it is probable that he felt it a 
bargain which because of Stephenson's years he proba- 
bly would not be called upon to observe, but the some- 
what unpleasant necessity, if so he felt it, came all too 
soon. Like the true "sport," how^ever, he observed the 
pact, if one existed. 

"One day, I think it was in the spring of 1900." said 
a former law student in LaFollette 's office, "we received 

10 



1 10 LaFoI.I.KTTK's Wl.\M.N(i OF WlSCO-NSI.\ 

word tliat I'ncle Ike was coming to Madison and I was 
detailed to meet him at the train and be at his service 
generally. As Stephenson emerged from the train he 
carried a small hand satchel or suitcase and I reached 
for it to relieve him of it, whereupon he extended it out 
of my reach, gave me what seemed a suspicious look, and 
said he could carry it himself. Of course, it is not at 
all likely that Uncle Ike carried rolls around in a 
satchel; it was more likely underwear; but I could not 
hclj) thinking of tiie incident later when Stephenson was 
charged with financing the campaigns of LaPollette. I. 
thought at the time that he suspected me of being a con- 
fidence man, and we both looked our parts for such 
game, I being young and dapper and he the seedy-look- 
ing one supposed to have a plentiful supply of the long 
green in his bag." 

The amount of Stephenson's contributions to the La- 
F'ollette cause, by the way, was prol)aljly not known even 
by Stephenson himself, but it has been asserted by La- 
Follette" leaders to have been about $15,000. This does 
not include the large amovyit of money spent in the 
founding and maintaining of the Milwaukrv Free Press, 
established as a LaPollette organ. 

This reference to the founding of the Free Press serves 
to recall the letter written on the subject by LaPollette 
to H. P. Myrick, editor of tliat paper, September 11, 
1905. When this letter was printed with great heads 
and Avide margins on the front page of the Free Press 
in the spring of 1909 it created a sensation. Sprung in 
the crisis of the senatorial deadlock, its publication was 
designed to put Stephenson over the line, so to speak, 
through the added impetus of LaPollette 's earlier tribute 
to him. Immediately the question was raised, "who 
ordered its publication?" but echo mocked the query. 

The genesis of the letter is said to have been as fol- 
lows : Some time after the election of 1904 Governor 



LaFollette's First Nomination and Election 147 

LaFollette was requested by Mr. Myrick to write a word 
of appreciation of Mr. Stephenson. "His enemies are 
trying to discourage him and kill off the Free Press," 
said Myrick, "by saying that it can't succeed; that he 
will have to continue to carry it at great expense. They 
are also trying to stir up distrust between him and you. 
Now Mr. Stephenson is an old man and a word from you 
would offset all this and make him very happy, I am sure. 
I wish 3'ou would write me such a letter, not necessarily 
for publication, but one that I could show him and thus 
make him happy." 

LaFollette 's kindlier nature was touched by the ap- 
peal and he agreed to Myrick 's request. When Myrick 
received the letter he showed it to Mr. Stephenson, who, 
as had been predicted, was greatly moved by it, and with 
tears in his eyes, as the story goes, begged Myrick to 
give him the letter that he might proudly hand it down 
to his grandchildren. 

It will be observed that the letter was evidently care- 
fully written ; it is not fulsome, nor insincere, but such 
commendation as it contains is confined to Mr. Stephen- 
son's worthy enterprise in founding and maintaining 
the Free Press. 

February 16, 1909, the Milwaukee Free Press devoted 
a large part of its front page to a conspicuous display of 
this personal letter written by Governor LaFollette, 
dated Chicago, September 11, 1905, addressed to H. P. 
Myrick, editor of the Free Press, and reading in part as 
follows : 

Then there is another side and a better and a nobler side to 
this Free Press proposition. Mr. Stephenson cannot overlook it 
and it is going to stand as one of the greatest and most enduring 
things in his remarkable life. It is this: The Free Press is a part 
of the history of the reform movement, which began in Wisconsin 
and has become the dominant idea in the great decade upon which 
we are now entered as a nation. The Free Press stands today as 
the only distinct representative of that idea among the newspapers 
of the country. 



148 LaFolixtte's Winning of Wisconsin 

iir. Stephenson made this paper possible. The paper made 
th« flght for reform in Wisconsin a potential fact in the nation. 
It I* the bout supporter of the president, who has taken up the 
iimue, 

Mr. Stephenson has amassed an immense fortune. It is a 
Creat thing to have acquired a great fortune honestly in these 
dajrs. Hut he is a multi-millionaire by sheer force of his business 
abilities and sagacity. The Rockefellers, Morgans, Armours, 
8wift«, and thousands of others, have secured their fortunes in 
riolation of plain criminal statutes. Isaac Ste])henson will be 
long romoml>crcd for his great business ability. But man cannot 
live by bread alone. Man 's best fame cannot rest on wealth 
alone. In the la.st four years he has founded and maintained at 
great cost a great new-spajer which is doing a noble work for the 
emancipation of government from graft — which is bringing gov- 
ernment back to tlie jieojile, which day by day is saying to the 
big cor|*oration!* of Wisconsin: and the country: "Conduct your 
bosineM in ol)odicnce to law and keep your corrupting hands off 
legislation. ' ' 

To do this thing and make this paper a moral and political 
force in the restoration of government to the citizens is to wield 
a greater power and render a greater service to his state and 
country than falls to the lot of many men. The estaldishing and 
maintaining of the Free Press is Mr. Stephenson's best monu- 
mont. It is an act of patriotism. His family and his friends 
and the hi.story of his time will dicrish it as the really greatest 
work of a great life. 

The use of this letter by the F/rr Press also serves to 
recall a somewhat .similar situation in 1912 when LaPol- 
Ictte's earlier tribute to Roosevelt was exploited to offset 
the sovcre .strictures LaFoilette Avas then pa.ssing upon 
the colonel. Soon after Mr. Roosevelt's retirement from 
the presidency Senator LaFoilette took occasion to speak 
a word in praise of Roosevelt because of his attitude 
toward c.-rtain public (|ue.stions while in office. Roose- 
velt and LaFoilette were not then as "rood friends as 
they had been at the earlier part of LaFoilette 's sena- 
torial career. The president had deemed it expedient 
to materially weaken a part of his legislative program 
relative to onscrvatir.n and whose outlines he had re- 
que«t(H) Senator LaFoilette to draw. As LaFoilette had 



LaFollette's First Nomination and Election 14".) 

put weeks of hard work at this he was disappointed to 
see it consigned unceremoniously to the junk heap. 
Then too there had been a scene at the white house be- 
tween these two worthies. The president had twice sent 
an urgent request to LaFollette to call at the white 
house. Rising from a sick bed the senator went there, 
only to find that the president's sole object was to "call 
him down" for some alleged criticism the senator had 
privately passed on the president's change relative to 
public lands or something else. LaFollette did not relish 
being called from a sick bed simply to be brow-beaten, 
and leaning on a table and trembling with weakness he 
yet bearded the later lion-tamer in his den and gave him 
such a plain talk as perhaps a president has seldom re- 
ceived to his face, not forgetting to refer to the fact that 
he had been obliged to make his Wisconsin fight, not 
only without his (Roosevelt's) moral aid, but in the 
face of his opposition, and was therefore, not beholden to 
the president for a single favor. He admitted making 
the criticism and repeated it to the president's face. 

The president finally sought to mollify the wrath of 
his visitor by lightly remarking that the senator was "a 
fighter after his ow^n heart," and the incident closed 
with the senator's somewhat unconventional departure. 
When therefore LaFollette was later twitted for the 
tribute he had paid the retired president he made this 
explanation : 

I was simply observing the ordinary rules of courtesy, and 
obeying the natural human impulse to speak kindly of the dead, 
as it were. It was expected that Koosevelt, crowned with the 
great honors of the presidency, and enjoying the love and confi- 
dence of his people as seldom a president had, would now pass 
into dignified retirement after the manner of Grover Cleveland, 
for instance. He had himself declared that he would not again 
be a candidate for the presidency and there was no reason for 
doubting his word. Accordingly such tributes as we paid were 
due him and to be expected. 

Colonel Roosevelt thus had himself to blame that these 



150 LaFoI.I-KTTE'S WlNNINfi OF WrscoxsiN 

tributes were later to become the subject of sardonic 
raillery. In refusing to remain "dead," he could 
scarcely wonder that his mourners, as it were, should 
confess to a feeling of kinship with the victim of the con- 
fulcnee man. Their dignity appeared to have been put 
to moekery ; their tears had fallen for a prestidigitateur, 
not a corpse. 

At this juncture it may not be out of place to call at- 
tention to one or two features of the campaign of 1911 
and 1912. When LaFollette's friends began grooming 
him for the presidential contest of 1912 his practical eye 
foresaw that the probable chief obstacle to securing the 
united progressive support would be Colonel Roosevelt. 
Stronj? and ambitious characters like Roosevelt's do not 
pive themselves unreservedly to any cause not wholly 
their own. Some avenue is left open for exigencies; for 
the .seizure of power by self should it seem possible and 
desirable. Knowing human nature, and particularly 
Hocseveltian nature, LaFollette foresaw the cloud which 
later was to wreck the progressive hope. Accordingly 
he laid down as a condition to his supporters that they 
would have to secure a jiledge, if possible, from Roose- 
velt, that if he would not himself get behind the LaFol- 
lette candidacy he would at least not complicate the sit- 
uation by him.self becoming a candidate. The senator's 
friends later gave it as their understanding and belief 
that Roosevelt had practically agreed to this program. 

Another condition exacted by LaFollette was that a 
suflicient fund be raised to make a dignified and thor- 
ough campaign ; otherwise he would not assume the lead- 
orshij). .Money would be nee(U^d to contest the immense 
rcRourccs of the administration in power. When some 
$:]0.0()0 had been pledgeil as an earnest of good faith 
and the Roosevelt bogie seemed to have been laid, the 
Wi.sconsin leader prepared to set in motion the machin- 
ery for capturing the noniin.it ion. 



LaFollette's First Nomination and Electiux 151 

With the entrance of LaFollette in the field the other 
candidates for governor made no headway. Outside of 
their immediate territories the counties were going for 
LaFollette at the caucuses. It remained, however, for 
a decisive dual victory to flash LaFollette upon the mind 
of the state as the coming man. This was the carrying 
of Oconto county, the home of Governor Scofield, and 
Waukesha county, the home of "Long" Jones, also a 
candidate for governor, on the same day. How Oconto 
county was won for LaFollette was later described by 
Henry Johnson as follows : 

111 the s{:riiig- of 1900 I was going to attend the state con- 
vention at Milwaukee to elect delegates to the national conven- 
tion. Mr. T. E. Mills cante to my house the night before I 
started and said to me : " Henry, go and see Bob LaFollette and 
tell him that we will give him some delegates from Oconto county, 
if he will run for governor." This being Scofield 's county we 
were not supposed to elect LaFollette delegates. I met LaFollette 
at his room in the Plankinton hotel. I was introduced to him 
by H. E. McEachron of Wausau, and the first thing I said to 
nim was, ' ' Are you a candidate for governor? If so, we can assure 
you of some delegates from Oconto county. ' ' LaFollette looked 
at me and said, ' ' You don 't mean to say that I can have some 
delegates from Scofield 's home county? If you can hold an 
early convention and give me a delegation from Oconto county, 
the fight is won. Go home and see what you can do. ' ' 

I did so, we had the convention and a solid delegation for 
Bob marched into the convention at Milwaukee with a banner 
bearing this inscription: "100,000 Majority for Bob in No- 
vember. ' ' It happened to be 103,000 majority. 

The day before the caucuses were held in these coun- 
ties Governor Scofield issued a long interview attacking 
LaFollette and declaring that he would consider it a 
great misfortune to the party were Mr. LaFollette to 
be nominated. Charging that LaFollette and his fol- 
lowers had cut him in 1898, he cited the town of Prim- 
rose, Dane county, LaFollette's native town, showing 
that while he (Scofield) had received 41 votes and his 
democratic opponent, Judge Sawyer, 68, the other re- 



152 LaFollette'k Winning of Wisconsin 

publicans on the state ticket had received about 100 
votes and the other democrats on the state ticket ap- 
proximately only 15. 

"I do not hesitate," lie declared, "to say that I should 
regard the success of Mr. LaFoUette at this time as 
disastrous to the harmony and permanent interests of 
the party in Wisconsin. * * * * jf the earnest and 
laborious efforts which T have made to promote the pub- 
lic interest and give Wisconsin a good administration 
are satisfactory to the people, am I not entitled to the 
endorsement by the nomination as my successor of a 
different kind of republican from ]\Ir. LaFollette? And 
endorsement by resolution of a republican convention, 
followed by his nomination as«iy successor, would be a 
singular reward for hard service to the people and the 
party." 

Nevertheless, such was to be the destined course of 
events. LaFollette declined to make any comment on 
the attack. However, in the caucuses the following day 
he swept not only Oconto county but both the assembly 
districts of Waukesha county. The overthrow of Sco- 
field on his own ground on the day following his attack 
on LaFollette, and the practical elimination also of a 
rival on the same day elated the followers of the ^ladi- 
son man and correspondingly depressed the opposition. 

On June 30, at the first assembly district convention 
in Waukesha, Senator Jones announced his withdrawal 
as a candidate. July 3 Mr. Bradford quit the race, fol- 
lowed by Senator Whitehead July 6, General Rogers 
July 14, and by Senator Stebbins July 24. leaving the 
field entirely to LaFollette. 

Immediately on the defeat of Senator Jones in Wau- 
kesha county. Senator Whitehead had hastened to Madi- 
son, where, accompanied by Philo. A. Orton, James G. 
Monahan and Cham. Ingersoll of Beloit. he had a long 
interview with Senator Spooner, followed by another 
with Governor Scofield. 



LaFollette's First Nomination and Election 153 

If Whitehead had expected to receive any comfort 
from Spooner he must have been grievously disap- 
pointed, for Spooner, who had a weakness for showing 
the white feather at critical times, was himself to startle 
the state and the nation and completely demoralize the 
opposition to LaFollette by also quitting the field, so to 
speak. On July 5, he gave out a statement announcing 
that he would not be a candidate for re-election to the 
United States senate on the expiration of his term in 
1903. This statement, which was of considerable length 
and evidently prepared with the greatest care and de- 
liberation, was at once interpreted as a recognition by 
Spooner of the "handwriting on the wall;" that LaFol- 
lette was the ascendant figure in Wisconsin and that his 
( Spooner 's) political existence thereafter would be sub- 
ject to the grace of LaFollette. Doubtless he saw little 
hope in that direction and pride, no less than want of 
stomach for a fight, determined him to turn his back on 
the new order of things whose coming seemed irresistible 
to his unresolute mind. As Senator Withee bluntly put 
it, "Senator Spooner is beaten anyhow, but he needn't 
have hollered so soon. Still it was a good play to get 
out now. ' ' The senator 's announcement read as follows : 

TO THE EEPUBLICANS OF WISCONSIN. 
There are to be elected iu November 17 state senators who will 
participate in choosing at the legislative session of 1903 a United 
States senator for the term beginning on the fourth day of March ' 
of that year. Having unalterably determined not to be a candi- 
date for re-election to the senate, I deem it my duty at this time 
to so declare. I have not since I was returned to the senate in 
1897 entertained the purpose of being a candidate for re-election. 
On the contrary the only question which I have felt called upon 
to consider affecting my relation to the position has been whether 
duty to my family would permit me to serve out my term. It 
is, I think, neither usual nor ordinarily wise for one to form, 
much less to announce, such a puri)0se so long in advance, but 
as I am absolutely convinced that no change can come in my con- 
viction of private duty in the matter, I feel that I rest under 



164 LaFollette's Winning of Wiscoxsix 

nn honorable ohligation to lie frank witli my party about it and 
tluToforp to make luiblic announcement of the fact. I have lately 
roccivcJ nbundant assurances, all of course unsought, from lead- 
ing rp|.ubl>cnns in most of the 17 senate districts (differing in 
|K>rt)onal jToferences upon other lines) of their earnest desire for 
my reelection to the senate and of their unswer\ang support. To 
|icrnut the not unnatural assumption that I am a candidate for 
reelection to tio without correction when in fact I am not a 
runiiidate would, it seems to me, be little if anything short of 
<lu]>li(Mty upon my part and this I cannot tolerate. Again, there 
are ninny republicans, among them long time friends aud sup- 
porters of mine, well entitleil by reason of ability, integrity, party 
loyalty and dignity of character, to be favorably considered for 
the succession, who might by my silence be deterred from candi- 
dacy to their detriment and to the detriment of the public in- 
terest. Moreover, the oflice is one of great responsibility and 
preat importance to the jieople and they are entitled seasonably 
to know who are and who are not candidates for it in order that 
lime may be afforded for that discussion and deliberation essen- 
tial to correct Judgment and wise action. 

I communicated months ago not only my purpose not to be a 
candidate for reelection but my fear that I might not be able 
to serve out the term, with some of the reasons for it, in confi- 
•ience to my colleague, Mr. Quarlcs, and to a few other friends. 
AbsorlM'd in the important duties of the session recently ended 
anil ilistre.H.H«»d by the serious illness of a member of my family, 
I did not consider whether duty ro(]uirod of me a public declara- 
tion. 

No one, I hope, will consider me unappreciative of or indiffer- 
ent to the honor whi.di pertains to a seat in the United States 
■cnnte honorably obtained. I will not admit that any man is 
more keenly .sensible of its dignity and imi)ortanee. It affords 
to one who comes to the discharge of its duties a proper sense 
of responsibility, a splendid opportunity for useful public service. 
All things consblered, there is, in my .iudgment, no public posi- 
tion which is at all comparable with it. 

While fully mindful of this I have not been nor am I able to 
permit it to inlluence me in the opinion that it is my dutv for 
purely jKTsonal and j.rivate rea.sons to retire at the expiration 
of my term. I'ntil that time arrives I most earncstlv hope to be 
nolo to serve. 

I cannot refrain from availing myself of this opportunitv to 
URixux expre.ss to the republican party of Wisconsin my intense 
nppreciaUon of the confidence which it has rei^eatedly manifested 



LaFollette's First Nomixatiox axd Election 155 

in ine and my lirofound gratitude for the honors which it has 
conferred upon me. No party could more graciously and gener- 
ously bestow upon one of its members the highest honor in its 
gift than did the republican party of Wisconsin bestow upon me 
when it gave me in 1897 after six years of retirement a unani- 
mous re-election to the United States senate. It has been to me 
an inspiration. 

I hope it will not be deemed indelicate for me also here to ex- 
press my appreciation of the evidences very recently afforded with 
remarkable unanimity by the republican press of Wisconsin of 
the continued confidence of the public in me. It certainly must 
be unnecessary for me in view of my relations to the party since 
1884 to give assurance that this elimination of myself from direct 
interest in Wisconsin politics will not in any degree diminish my 
efforts to promote at all times the success of republican principles 
and of republican tickets in the state. 

John C. Spooner. 
Madison, Wis., July 5, 1900. 

The abandonment of the field by all of LaFollette's 
rivals before half the delegates had been chosen proved 
what surprises the whirligig of polities can bring about. 
But a scant month before many politicians and news- 
papers had gravely doubted LaFollette's ability to se- 
cure the nomination. As stated, at a visit in LaCrosse, 
Judge E. AV. Keyes of Madison had expressed his doubt 
about LaFollette carrying even Dane county. His most 
sanguine friends had never anticipated so sweeping a 
victory as that which was to result, or that the field 
would be clear before half the delegates had been elected. 
It was a sensation so novel that many raised the ques- 
tion, "where is the nigger?", "what's the game they're 
up to!" They half expected some coup was in contem- 
plation. Indeed there was talk of bringing out another 
candidate to stem the rising tide of LaFollette's success, 
and J. B. Treat, Senator J. H. Stout and Congressman 
J. J. Jenkins were mentioned, but disheartened by the 
action of Senator Spooner and realizing the futility of 
opposition none would permit his name to be mentioned 
and LaFollette was permitted to come to the convention 



156 L\P"ni,i.i:nK's Winninc; of Wisconsin 

at the exposition building in Milwaukee August 8 for 
an uncontested nomination. 

In his previous contests LaFoUette had stopped at 
the Plankinton house and avoided the Hotel Pfister, 
the headfiuarters of the old-line politicians, but now that 
he was master of the situation he resolved to take his 
place in the midst of them and also opened headquarters 
at the Pfister. 

On the morning of the convention day four of the 
candidates who had been opposing LaFollette for the 
nomination. 'Whitehead, Rogers, Bradford and Stebbins, 
met in the Pfister hotel lobby and went to LaFollette 's 
room whore Colonel Rogers said: "Mr. LaFollette, we 
call for the jiurpose of striking our colors and surrender- 
ing to you. From this time forward we are all of us for 
Boh LaFollette." 

The convention was a great and memorable affair al- 
though unmarked by contests which had characterized 
so many other like occasions. LaFollette had everything 
completely in his hands. The speech of Henry C. Adams 
a.s chairman was a notable effort. 

Another feature of the speechmaking was the address 
of (Jen. George E. Bryant placing Mr. LaFollette in 
nomination. In imitation of Roscoe Conkling's speech 
in eulogy of Grant at Chicago twenty years before, he 
began : 

Vmi ask from wlicnco my caiulidate. 
This my answer it shall be, 
He cnmc from the town of Primrose; 
From a log cabin unrler the tree. 

The troo was nn onk of the primeval forest. In its broad, 
■tunly brnnt-hos the boy first heard the whispering of the wind 
nn«l the KWfot snugs of the wild birds. To climb its sturdy trunk 
to itfl topmost limb— symbolic of the triumidi that awaits him on 
the duwning of the new century— was the first aspiration of this 
child of the frontiersman. Lad, yo\ith and man have I known 
him. nnd ho has never failed in fealty to a friend. Student, 
teacher, lawyer. «tatosmnn, his path from the opening in the forest 



LaFollette's First Nomination and Election 157 

to this convention hall in the commercial metropolis of the state 
has been trod with honest steps. Gold could not buy him; flattery 
never swerved him; threats deterred him not. As persistent a 
fighter for the right as was the great chieftain, Ulysses S. Grant, 
when the battle is over and the foe surrendered he can say, 'Let 
us have peace, ' with the same fervency as did the hero of Appo- 
mattox, etc. 

The committee of notification consisted of A. H. Lon<|, 
Isaac Stephenson, A. R. Hall, J. W. Babcock and N. P. 
Hangen. 

As LaFollette entered the hall on the arm of the ' ' tall 
sycamore from Marinette" the ovation given him Avas 
perhaps then unparalleled in the history of state conven- 
tions of "Wisconsin. After years of arduous campaign- 
ing LaFollette had finally won a complete convention 
triumph, and his enthusiastic supporters were unre- 
strained in their exultation. 

Said the Milwaukee Sentinel: 

He was given a • perfect ovation. The applause swept back 
and forth across the great auditorium only to die away and be 
caught up again. Men stood up and flung their hats in the air 
and shouted; women in the galleries stood up and waved their 
handkerchiefs, and over and above all this din arose the well- 
known yell of the University of Wisconsin. It was several min- 
utes before Mr. LaFollette could begin his address although he 
tried to do so several times before he succeeded. 

The nominee's speech was characteristic of the man 
and in keeping with the occasion. A great levee followed 
it, in the course of which the nominee had to shed his 
coat to be able to continue hand-shaking. Telegrams 
poured in upon him from all parts of the country. Even 
from the bullet-riddled walls of the American legation 
in far-off Pekin, then the scene of the boxer uprising, 
came words of congratulation. 

There were other human sides of interest. Mrs. La- 
Follette sat on the platform through the exciting scene 
of the convention apparently unmoved by the stirring 
occasion, her fan swaying rhythmically to and fro. 



I&X LaFoijj!TTE'8 WixMNi; OK Wisconsin 

When her husband went l)y with the committee to make 
hiK spet'oh a few persons saw a white-gloved hand go up 
and b«« swiftly pressed by him in passing. 

•'It is a wonderful day, isn't it?" said Mrs. LaFollette 
in one of the lulls. 

"It would be foolisii for nie to say that I was not 
proud and plad and happy, but — now this will sound 
queer, yet it is true — I have been even prouder of Mr. 
LaFollette when he has suffered defeat. You see that, 
after all. is the supreme test, and I have always rejoiced 
at the way in which he has stood firm and staunch and 
undaunt(H| when things went against him. That is the 
side of him that naturally I know more about than other 
people do. and that is the side of him. after all. of which 
I am proudest." 

Mrs. Siebecker, the nominee's sister, who hatl come 
to .Milwaukee to see her brother nominated, had the 
misfortune to sprain her ankle on the way to the train 
ami hiid to be earrie*! into the train by her husband and 
likewise carried by him to the hotel in Milwaukee and 
wherever else n«'cessary. Little Robert, the nominee's 
five-year old son. apparently did not appreciate his 
father's prominence and feared he w^ " cret lost. Be- 
tween keeping an eye on his parent and collecting badges 
he wa-H a very busy youngster. This may be here men- 
tioned sinee it was due to this same child that the nom- 
inee had to eut short his stay in Milwaukee and forego 
a reeeption. a sudden attack of illness re({uiring it. he 
hurried baek with him to Madison. 

Mr. LaFollette's return to Madison after the nomina- 
tion was marked by a cordial demonstration on the part 
of till- eitizens of ^L•ldison regardless of party. Mayor 
.M. .1. Hovi-n. a democrat, issued a proclamation urging 
alt eitizens to meet at the Park hotel at 7 o'clock in the 
evening and march to the LaFollette home to show their 
npprecinlion of the distinction accorded to one of their 



LaFollette's First Nomination and Election 159 

townsmen and the city. A great gathering resulted and 
led by a band it marched to the modest home of the 
nominee on Wilson street. Mr. LaFollette was much 
affected at this cordial outpouring of his neighbors and 
standing on the porch with Mrs. LaFollette on one side 
and Gen. George E. Bryant on the other he expressed 
his deep appreciation. In part he said : 

Neighbors and friends: Tliouglit is deeper than all speech; 
feeling deeper than all thought. If I could command tonight all 
the words that have been coined by the cunning of speech I would 
yet be but a poor bankrupt to voice the thoughts and feelings that 
surge over me and through me at this cordiafand more than\eigh- 
borly greeting that you have given me. * * * All the sweet 
and tender memories of that time (of his residence in Madison) 
come over me— my college days, the rounding out of mv young 
manhood, the finding of my wife, my struggles as a young lawye*, 
the coming of our children— all return to me tonight. - * * j 
wish to say that if I am elected to the great office of governor of 
Wisconsin this greeting you receive tonight shall not be warmer 
than that I shall extend you then, and mindful of the great re- 
sponsibilities of the office, and with the support of such good 
friends as you, I shall endeavor to be the governor of the whole 
people. 

Then there were calls for Gen. George E. Bryant and 
in affectionate manner Mr. LaFollette placed one arm 
around the general and presented him as his second 
father. The general voiced the great pride he felt in 
the occasion and said he had long felt toward "Bob" 
as toward his own sons. 

The fact that the old order was changing within the 
party was well set forth by Judge E. W. Keves, who 
wrote the day after the convention : 

The membership of the republican state conveHtion yesterday 
shows that a great change has taken place in the forces that are 
in control of the party. In former years, running awav back to 
the birth of the republican party, the state conventions have been 
largely made up of men who have been prominent as leaders of 
the party. In each county care was taken to elect men as dele- 
gates who had had experience in public affairs. As youno- men 
came to the front and took active part in campaigns thev were 



160 LaFoll*:tte'.s Winmnu of Wisconsin 

rcco^iuHl and adniittod to the jiarty councils where they were 
trained for {.olitical work »jy those who knew the ways of politics. 
In that manner a |)erfcct organization was maintained and to it 
waa duo tlio successive republican victories in the state. When 
reviT»08 came occasionally through the operation of issues on which 
tho majority of people arrayed themselves against the republican 
party tho strength of the organization was such that it soon 
hroU);ht them back into line. 

This convention is noted for the comjiarative absence of the 
olil leaders save such as have identified themselves fully with the 
element which has come into control of the party. A new cult 
hnn arisen and has forced its way to the front. Never before 
were so many new faces seen in a republican state convention in 
Wisconsin. The majority are young men whose enthusiasm has 
taken the place of experience. Time will show whether such a 
rndioal change in control of the party organization is wise or 
untvise. It is suflicient to say that it is all the result of a popular 
movement throughout the state. 

Because of the state of his health LaFoUette had not 
o.xpccli'd to make a speaking campaign in 1900 and in 
fact early in the season wrote to Frank T. Tucker of 
Neillsville that on the advice of his physician he would 
make no speaking tour. l)ut visit the various counties 
and confer with friends instead. However, his health 
improved and permitted a change in his plans. 

The campaigning done by LaFoUette in the seven 
wfc'ks preceding tlie election that year had never been 
Jipproached by anyone in the state's history for a given 
time. Between the date of his opening at Milwaukee, 
September 19, and his closing at Madison, November 3, 
he traveled nearly 6,500 miles — more than the state's 
entire mileage— and visited 61 of the 70 counties of the 
state. In all he made 216 speeches. During the last 
three weeks when he traveled by special train he aver- 
aj:ed ten speeches a day, the day speeches averaging 
twenty-one minutes in length and the evening two hours 
and nine minutes. His avt>rage day audience was esti- 
Jiiate.l at H80 and his night audience at 2,100. 

As one reads the reports of these speeches in the light 



LaFollette's FmsT Nomination and Election 161 

of the anti-corporation crusade made by LaFoUette in 
the years immediately preceding and in the terrific fac- 
tional warfare that followed at once after his first elec- 
tion, he is apt to be singularly impressed by the entire 
absence in them of any word or tone of bitterness or 
denunciation. There is no rasping of the railroads, no 
charge that they or other corporations were not paying 
their share of taxes, no criticisms of past legislatures 
or officials that had marked earlier addresses. The 
speeches were almost entirely along national lines, with 
primary elections alone urged as a state issue. Accord- 
ingly it is scarcely to be wondered at that many people 
thus suspected a deal had been made between LaFollette 
and the railroads, particularly since the railroads had 
apparently made no fight on his nomination. But the 
LaFollette policy in the campaign was apparently a car- 
rying out of the spirit of his announcement as a candi- 
date when he expressed gratification at the better feel- 
ing in the party and declared he would do all that he 
could consistent with principle to promote that harmony. 
At any rate he seems to have wisely chosen the course 
that would ensure him general support. 

In an elaborate speech in Milwaukee, September 19, 
opening his campaign, Mr. LaFollette discussed broadly 
the national issues of the day, paying much attention 
to the anti-imperialistic charges of the democratic party 
and talking conventional republican prosperity doctrine. 
Toward the close he devoted about one-tenth of his time 
to a discussion of primary elections, largely academic, 
but raised no other state issues. The Milwaukee address 
was typical of those that followed. 

So great was the enthusiasm over LaFollette and so 
pressing the demands for speeches from him that it was 
early discovered that the only way to meet the demands 
would be to employ a special train. To this Mr. LaFol- 
lette finally assented, and Gen. George E. Bryant, chair- 
11 



162 LaFoi.i.kttk'h Winning of "Wisconsin 

man of the state central committee, arranged for such 
special with the Wisconsin Central railroad and this 
train was used during the three weeks preceding the elec- 
tion. It was stipulated that the committee was to pay 
$40 each day to every road upon which the special ran 
in any day. Sometimes the cost thus ran up to $120 a 
day. On the other hand the special had the right of 
way over all other trains so that the best possible time 
could he made. Mrs. LaFollette accompanied her hus- 
band throughout most of the campaign, as did Alfred 
T. Rogers, who had charge of the train schedules. Dur- 
ing a good share of the traveling John Strange of 
Xcenah. later lieutenant governor, acted as general util- 
ity man. Then there were newspaper representatives 
and usually a number of politicians in the part3^ 

The campaign was marked by a number of interesting 
incidents. Mr. Strange composed some verses to the air 
of "When Johnny Comes Marching Home Again," 
which after the author had personally "tried them out" 
on the audience at Spooner were afterward sung at a 
number of other meetings. Two stanzas follow: 

When voters po fortli to vote this fall, 

I think I hear, 
A little, .still voice, a-whispering: 

' ' Take koor, take keer, 
Henicnihcr the days of '93, 
Wht'u vou voted out jirosperity ; 
From jjood to had is only a vote, you know." 

I.j»Folletto has stood in l)attle brave, 

A good true man; 
Ho built a platform in '98 

Upon n |)lan 
Which lai-ked but a plank to stand tlie test; 
We have added that and will do the rest, 
And we'll elect Bob LaFollette, 

Because he's the people's man. 



LaFollette's First Nomination and Election 163 

His banner day of speaking was probably October 23, 
when, beginning at Rhinelander at 8 :45 a. m. and clos- 
ing at Oconto at 11 p. m., he made fifteen speeches, 
speaking a total of seven hours and ten minutes. The 
day included 150 miles of travel and the reaching of 
11,000 people. 

Parades were features of many meetings, with brass 
bands and uniformed clubs and occasionally, as at 
Oconto, he was welcomed with the booming of cannon. 
Often the receptions took on unique forms. At Inde- 
pendence, a small north Wisconsin place, the citizens 
had built an evergreen arch over the track on which the 
special was to go and had adorned it with flags and bunt- 
ing. At Little Suamico he held iij his arms for a time a 
little three-year-old girl who was passed up to him while 
he talked, and carried away a great red apple forced 
upon him as a reward. Unusually demonstrative meet- 
ings were held at Superior, Janesville and Stoughton. 
At Janesville he was introduced by Senator Whitehead, 
a recent rival for the nomination, and here Col. E. 0. 
Kimberly sang John Strange 's campaign song. At Oak- 
field he found the people wearing yellow oak leaves in 
his honor and naturally had to submit to the pinning 
of one upon his own coat by one of the young women 
of the place. At Brodhead, where he had expected to 
siay only ten minutes, he was welcomed with the firing 
of cannon and drawn from his train to the town hall 
where he found 1,500 people awaiting him and where 
44 little girls representing the states showered him with 
little bouquets. A total of twelve speeches were made 
on this day, at Shullsburg, Gratiot, Mineral Point, 
Platteville, Belmont, Darlington, South Wayne, Brown- 
town, Monroe, Brodhead, Orfordville and Beloit. A 
feature of the Dodgeville meeting was the reading by 
the candidate of a request handed him by a number of 
girls asking one of the teachers to excuse them for cut- 
ting school to come to the station to hear him. 



164 



LaFollette's Winning of Wisconsin 



These incidents serve to show the interest taken in 
the man and the warm place he had acquired in the 
hearts of the people. 

Louis G. Bomrich of Kenosha, who became the demo- 
cratic candidate for governor, was kept "on the map" 
for a time by a picturesque phrase of one of his sup- 
porters, who suggested for a war cry, "Bryan, Bomrich 
or P.lood!" but was overwhelmed in the election land- 
slide. "With four candidates against him, LaFollette 
was elected by the unparalleled plurality of 102,745 
votes and a net majority of 85,941. The vote stood: 
LaFollette, republican, 263,419; Bomrich, democratic, 
lG0.G74r Smith, prohibition, 9,707; Tuttle, social demo- 
cratic, 6,590 ; Wilkie, social labor, 507 ; total, 440,897. 





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Homo of R. M. LaFollette when elected 
governor. Wllaon Street, Madison, W^is. 



CHAPTER XII 

Stirring Legislative Session of 1901. 

LaFollette Reads Message to Legislature — Demands Pri- 
mary Election Legislation and Advalorem Taxation of Rail- 
roads — Great Battle Over Primary Elections — Memorable 
Night Session — Governor's Measures Defeated — Senate 
Adopts Resolution of Censure. 



T 



HE change of administrations in January, 1901, was 
to be more deeply significant to Wisconsin than perhaps 
the most far-seeing student of the times imagined. It 
was to mark the passing of an old order which harked 
back to the past, and the advent of a new one whose 
keener ear was responsive rather to the future. The 
traditional republicanism, exemplified in older men, con- 
trolled by conservatism, and holding to established rou- 
tine, to party fetiches and aristocratic respectability, 
was to give way to a new ideal of service to the state, 
and a new type of public servant. The standard was 
to pass from old hands to young and past ideals and 
practices were to take the natural course of the outworn. 
Governor Scofield was to be the last old soldier gov- 
ernor — in all probability. No longer was the bluecoat 
to be the familiar and dominant figure it had been for a 
generation ; no longer was it to be sufficient for the party 
to rest on past achievements, on»the prestige of a mili- 
tary renown. The new century with its changed con- 
ditions demanded a new consecration, and responsive to 
this demand a new civic conscience, appreciating its offi- 
cial and social responsibilities, had arisen. And with 
the beginning of the new century — the promised era of 
humanitarianism and democracy — it seemed appropriate 
that a native-born son of the stete — the first to be elected 
to that high office — should be inaugurated governor. 



16«J LaFollette's Winning or Wisconsin 

Nevertheless it is probable that but few students of 
the time foresaw that the great battle which was to 
Kwoep nway the old order and determine the issue of 
populHr rule in the state was impending. The inaugura- 
tion (if (loviTnor LaFolk'tte January 7 differed in no 
fjistMitial respect from previous immediate functions of 
its kind. While he had opposed and deplored the elec- 
tion of linFollette as his successor, Governor Scofield 
hud met the usual demands of the occasion, though with 
si'vcre formality, by escorting his successor to the assem- 
bly chamber to have the otith of office administered by 
the chief justice, although that formality ended he then 
promptly left the eapitol and took no further part in 
the ceremonies. It was the usual festal day in Madison, 
culmiiuitin<: in a democratic inaugural ball in the uni- 
versity armory in the evening devoid of striking inci- 
<lent. LaFoIlette had been elected by the largest plu- 
rality ever iriven a candidate for governor and appar- 
ently by a united jiarly in whose ranks all was now har- 
mony and good will. 

Hut that stirrinir iin<l unusual times were ahead was 
foreshadowed when at the meeting of the legislature 
CJovernor I.aFoIl.'tte presented his first message. This 
WU.H n n-markable state paper as such, the longest of its 
kind that any Wisennsin executive luul so far written, 
and the irovernor lent an unusual and "impress'ive cl7ar- 
acter to it by jipp.'arin<: and reading it in person before 
Iho two houses in joiut^-onvention. a proceeding hitherto 
uniisual in the state. Althoiifrh taking over two hours 
in iU presentation, it received profound attention, read 
an it wa.s in the governor's impressive manner. Of 
Klronff literary form, there was no mistaking its author- 
Hhip; it was no i>atchwork nor product of secretaries. 

The mes-sage contained a number of striking depar- 
ture* from previous papers of its kind, the di'stinctive 
feature bcinj? an able essay on primary elections, in- 



Stibbing Legislative Session of 1901 167 

eluding even the advanced suggestion of second choice 
voting. Then there was a discussion of railway taxa- 
tion, a recommendation that women be appointed on 
various educational and charitable boards and that the 
activities of the lobby be curbed by legislation. Al- 
though this first message was far less aggressive than 
many he was later to write, there was no glossing over 
of his meaning, and his characterization of the ' ' political 
machine," of "tax-dodgers" and "lobbyists" as such 
occasioned comment. 

That the legislature owed a responsibility to the people 
and that it was not to escape a reminder of that responsi- 
bility was rather shrewdly set forth in this introduction 
to his discussion of primary elections : 

Commissioned by the suffrages of the citizens of this state, 
to represent tliem, you will have neither in the session before you 
nor in any official responsibility you may assume a more impor- 
tant duty than that of perfecting and writing upon the statute 
books of Wisconsin a primary election law. 

In the meantime the legislature had been organized. 
George H. Ray of LaCrosse had been chosen speaker of 
the assembl}'. As marking the last proceedings of its 
kind, it is interesting to note that he and the other offi- 
cers of that body had been chosen at a crowded caucus 
held at the Park hotel and dominated and directed 
largely b^v railroad lobbyists, as in the past. That the 
railroad interests were to be all-powerful again was to 
be shown in the makeup of the committee. This was 
illustrated in the case of A. R. Hall. The formality of 
asking members upon what committees they desired ap- 
pointment was observed and Hall had requested the 
chairmanship of the committee on assessment and col- 
lection of taxes, indicating that through such committee 
if rightty constituted he hoped to be of value to the state. 
He was given the chairmanship but with the empty 
honor of a majority of the committee hostile to his ideas. 



168 LaFollette's Winning of Wisconsin 

LaFollette's announcement that he intended to read 
his message in person to the legislature created a mild 
sensation at the time and provoked much curious inter- 
est. Hitherto tiie brief and conventional messages trans- 
mitted to the legislatures had been read by legislative 
clerks while the governors remained withdrawn in their 
chambered retreats. LaFollette's announcement there- 
fore startled the attention of the state. It portended 
an aggressive activity on the part of the governor in 
the work of legislation, an assertion and assumption of 
the right of leadership. This might have been expected 
in such a character and such a dynamic force as La- 
Follette's. 

The governor's office is in the main a clerical position, 
by courtesy made ornamental. It calls for no particular 
application of talents, no particularly hard work, no ex- 
pert training or high efficiency, as proved by the average 
run of governors throughout the country. To such in- 
tense natures and teeming intellects as LaFollette 's, how- 
ever, the ordinary routine of signing requisitions and 
the commissions of notaries public could in itself offer 
small charm or receive serious attention. His concep- 
tion of the governor's position was that the executive 
should do more than merely recommend legislation ; that 
he should assist and direct it wherever possible. Such 
invasions and assumptions of the functions and preroga- 
tives of one department by another are theoretically 
wrong under our system of government and will always 
be pointed out as a grave menace by the party or faction 
opposed to such invading department or. official. 

The warning so sounded is in the main justified. Ex- 
perience appears to have concluded that in a democratic 
form of government such divisions of responsibility are 
desirable. Of course great good, and little harm, may 
come from the overreaching activities of wise and altru- 
istic officials; constitutional limitations are not meant 



Stirring Legislative Session of 1901 169 

for such, but for the chance incompetent, unprincipled 
or tyrannical ones, who now and then break into the 
political china shop. 

After the firm demand in Governor LaFollette's mes- 
sage for the passage of a primary election law, the prac- 
tical politicians in the opposition saw that the very 
citadel of their power was threatened and that political 
wisdom demanded immediate action in opposition to the 
governor's polic3\ Long before the proposed measure 
was introduced the primary election bill was heralded 
as the great issue of the session and was denounced and 
derided as visionary and dangerous. It was plain to be 
seen that a great struggle over it was imminent. In the 
meantime it soon became obvious that the apparent har- 
mony between the opposing interests in the party was 
not of a permanent nature. Previous to the opening of 
the legislature a meeting of a dozen senators at Mil- 
waukee gave rise to a rumor that the senate was to be 
organized in opposition to the governor's program, and 
on the meeting of the legislature the press repeated this 
story. A mysterious spirit of battle which appeared to 
have slept through the campaign, also suddenly seemed 
to animate the air. 

In the stalwart storj^ of the Wisconsin revolution, 
written by E. L. Philipp and E. T. Wheelock, this phe- 
nomenon is discussed as follows : 

As the days passed it was noticed that an air of mystery was 
beginning to gather about the capitol building. Men were called 
to the executive chamlier for conferences, it is true, but they were 
carefully selected from among their fellows, and the consultations 
were always behind closed, guarded doors. They were star cham- 
ber sessions of the most secret kind. 

Long before any attempt was made to organize a faction in 
opposition to the governor there was a faction organized and dis- 
ciplined to carry out his program. His line of battle was formed 
to fight a foe not yet in existence; his generals, aids and lieu- 
tenants were appointed and entered upon the discharge of their 
duties. The atmosphere of mystery that first enveloped the execu- 



170 LaFollette's Winning of Wisconsin 

tive chamber only, spread to the entire capitol — legislative cham- 
bers, committee rooms, corri<lors, even the cloak rooms and closets. 
Tliere were little gatherings where whispered consultations were 
held; there was evasion, suspicion, secrecy on every hand. Every 
employe in the statehouse that could be dragooned into the ranks 
was made a secret service agent in addition to his regular clerical 
duties. Two men would be talking in a corridor and a third 
would aj)proach ; instantly there would be warning glances ex- 
changed and the two would separate, to be seen a few minutes 
later continuing the conversation. A true blue administration 
su{)iiorter would shy at the coming of an outsider as if the in- 
truder were afflicted with a contagious disease, for the servant 
of the executive feared he would be suspected of disloyalty should 
he l)e caught in friendly converse with one not yet initiated into 
the sacred arcana and possessed of the countersign, grip and pass- 
word. 

All this may sound like a childish fairy tale to one who did 
not go through that ex[)erience, but it is the bold, literal truth, 
nevertheless. Those who visited the statehouse at Madison during 
that niemoral)le session either on business or ]ileasure bent, be- 
came conscious at once of the changed atmos[>here, the oppressive 
psychic force with which the capitol was charged, as with an 
electric current. 

There is no great exafrgeration in this picture, as ob- 
servers of the period will remember, but it suggests the 
further fact that to espouse LaFolletteism in the early- 
days frequently proved a trial of men's souls. Too often 
it meant business reprisal and social ostracism. 

"You remember," said one Watertown man to an- 
other later, "how we once didn't dare to mention La- 
Follette's name without first going out in the alley or 
looking around to see if anyone was within hearing; we 
don't do that any more." 

To return to the primary bill, over which the first 
of the two gi-eat battles of the session was waged. In 
the form which the administration desired it enacted 
the bill was finally introduced in both houses on Janu- 
ary 28 by Assemblyman E. Ray Stevens, and by Sen- 
ator George P. Miller, both being members of the com- 
mittees on privileges and oloctions. Tt was a compre- 



Stibeing Legislative Session of 1901 171 

hensive measure, practically the present primary law 
of the state, and at once provoked general discussion and 
sharp divisions. 

All the interests opposed to LaFollette united to dis- 
credit and defeat the measure and railroad attorneys 
and representatives of the federal "machine" were 
early on hand to fight it. ( Even the new Chicago 
editor of the Milwaukee Sentinel, following its change 
from an independent to a corporation sheet, had not been 
in his chair a week before he came to Madison and at- 
tempted to awe LaFollette and compel the governor 
to emasculate the measure, failing in which he returned 
to Milwaukee and wrote the first editorial of that paper 
attacking LaFollette and definitely committing that 
sheet to a tory policy. Then the Sentinel followed up 
its campaign by printing a series of articles seeking to 
show the failure of the primary in Minnesota and else- 
where. 

So great was the interest taken in the measure that 
the first hearing upon it by the committee was made a 
great public occasion and staged accordingly. This was 
held on February 12. A great throng, which included 
partisans from both sides, was present to hear the argu- 
ments. 

Henry C. Adams, dairy and food commissioner, ap- 
peared as spokesman for the measure. James G. Mona- 
han, collector of internal revenue, spoke in opposition. 

Thus were typified the two opposing forces struggling 
for the mastery of the state party, the revolutionists 
under LaFollette and the intrenched forces whose ulti- 
mate heads were the two United States senators from 
the state. The arguments were ably presented, Mr. 
Adams contending for the primary principle on the 
ground of the abstract right of the people to a direct 
hand in all nominations, and Mr. Monahan att'acking 



172 LaFollette's Winning of Wisconsin 

such ideas as populistic, iinrepublican, expensive and 
impractical. 

The following day James A. Frear of Hudson, later 
assemblyman, senator, and secretary of state, and Levi 
11. Bancroft, of Richland Center, later speaker of the 
assembly and attorney general, appeared in able defense 
of the bill. 

Then followed a controversy precipitated by the Mil- 
waukee Sentinel as to Avhether or not the republican 
platform had read "demand" or "recommend", w^tli 
reference to primary legislation. The Sentinel asserted 
that the platform as read to the convention contained the 
word "i-ecommend", and that this was changed to "de- 
mand" in the copies given the press. Governor La- 
P^llette, Zeno M. Host, and others practically settled 
this point by declaring the original copy contained the 
word "demand." 

Final arguments on the bill were heard February 26, 
when Henry Fink of Milwaukee, also representing the 
federal machine as revenue collector, and H. H. Hayden, 
of Eau Claire, spoke against the bill, while H. W. Chyno- 
weth of Madison summed up the arguments in its de- 
fense. 

In a memorable all-night session which opened early 
in the evening of March 19 before a crowded house fever- 
ish with anticipation, the bill was pushed to third read- 
ing in the assembly. After a committee substitute to 
the Stevens bill had been accepted, E. A. Williams of 
Neenah, a stalwart leader, moved a call of the house 
which carried. Of the five absentees several were at 
their homes and one or two in the city. Several at- 
tempts to raise the call proving unsuccessful, the mem- 
bers could do nothing while waiting the arrival of the 
absentees. The discreditable session that followed has 
been 'frequently painted in lurid hues. Song and jest 
and the circulating liquor bottle were features. To hold 



Stibeing Legislative Session of 1901 173 

their forces in line the outside stalwart managers re- 
mained upon the floor and became so marked in their 
activities that finally on motion of one member, they, 
with others, were ordered to the lobby by the speaker. 
One member who had been in hiding in the city was 
finally brought in in an intoxicated condition. At 4 
o'clockr:fehe next morning Assemblyman L. M. Sturde- 
vant, a supporter of the measure, came in, but so did 
Assemblyman P. G. Duerwachter, stalwart, and their 
votes did not change the situation. Not until Assembly- 
man Price of Marinette county, who had risen from a 
sick bed, came in at 7 o'clock, was the call raised and 
the bill pushed to third reading, in a chamber now re- 
sembling in appearance the proverbial "hurrah's nest." 

When in session later, A. R. Hall moved to compel the 
chairman on enrolled bills to report the bill that day, 
it again became necessary to drive the stalwart federal 
lobby off the floor, which was done on motion of As- 
semblyman David Evans. 

On March 22 the Stevens bill passed the assembly by 
a vote of 51 to 48 in a brilliant two-hour debate before 
a crowded house, the speakers for the measure being 
Messrs. E. Ray Stevens, Frank A. Cady, and L. M. 
Sturdevant, and those against it being Messrs. M. M. 
McCabe, democrat, and C. A. Silkworth, Charles Barker, 
F. B. Keene and E. A. Williams, republicans. 

The senate being decidedly anti-LaFoUette, there was 
little hope for primary legislation in that body. After 
long hibernation in committee the bill came up for de- 
bate April 10, Senator Miller leading the fight for the 
measure and Senator John M. Whitehead the opposition. 
A day or two previously Senator Henry Hagemeister 
had introduced a bill for the nomination of coutity offi- 
cers and delegates to conventions by primary vote. On 
April 11 the senate killed both the Stevens substitute 
bill and the Miller bill and various other amendments, 



174 LaFollette's Winning of Wisconsin 

and passed the Hagemeister bill with a referendum clause 
proposed by Senator Kreutzer. The assembly then 
passed up to the senate another bill much like the Stevens 
bill, also with a referendum clause, but this the senate 
also killed. Thereupon the assembly concurred in the 
Hagemeister bill, Speaker Ray and AssembljTnan E. J. 
Frost of Almond finally troing over to the stalwarts and 
bringing this about. 

Governor LaFollette promptly vetoed the Hagemeister 
subterfuge. This was expected, but the caustic and 
powerful message that accompanied the veto was scarcely 
looked for. Of rare lucidity, literary finish and argu- 
mentative power, this veto message takes high rank in 
that remarkable series of papers written by LaFollette 
on primary elections and is deserving of study by stu- 
dents in disputation. 

"I cannot," said the governor, "divest myself of the 
binding character of my official obligation — not in any 
narrow partisan sense, but to all the people of the state — 
which forbids my sharing in the responsibility of giving 
them a law which violates that o])ligation ami is mani- 
festly so framed as to bring reproach upon the principle, 
even if it were at all possible to interpret or enforce it." 
Thus was ended the fight over primary elections at this 
session. 

The second great fight of the session was over the so- 
called railroad taxation bill. Like the primary bill, this 
also was to be defeated and created a burning issue for 
the next campaign. The tremendous influence of the 
railroads with past legislatures was to be demonstrated 
anew as was the frailty of the average legislator when 
subjected without defense to the luiprincipled machina- 
tions and pressure of high-priced and able representa- 
tives of corporations. 

That the railroads were not paying their share of 
taxes had been long demonstrated bv A. R. TTnll. who at 



Stirring Legislatrt: Session of 1901 175 

every session since he first came to the assembly in 1891, 
had demanded investigation and legislation and backed 
up his demands with formidable statistics. The tax 
commission in 1899 had also reported that the railroads 
were not bearing their share of the burdens of taxation. 
With the advent of LaFollette it was felt that the issue 
had to be met, but again the policy of playing for more 
time, so often successful in congress and with legislatures, 
was successfully tried. When the bills for increasing 
the railroad taxes came up in the session of 1899 the rail- 
road lobbyists cleverly diverted the threatened course 
of legislation by seizing upon the bill making the tax 
commission a permanent body. They promised that if 
such commission were established and railway taxation 
postponed at that session and that if later the commis- 
sion should come to the conclusion that the taxes of the 
railway companies should be increased, and should so 
recommend to the next legislature, there would be ;io 
further opposition on their part. 

Now when the tax commission at the opening of the 
session in 1901 declared that while it felt justified in 
confirming the first commission in its view that the rail- 
roads were not paying their share of the taxes, but was 
not prepared to say that the license fee system should 
be abandoned, there was rejoicing in the railroad lobby 
camp, for a new excuse to delay taxation increase was 
thus given. It gave new oppoi'tunity of playing for 
time. 

Nevertheless, on January 31, two bills prepared by the 
tax commission were introduced in each house by As- 
semblyman Hall and Senator Whitehead, chairman of 
the taxation committees in their respective houses. One 
of these bills proposed an increase in the license fees of 
railroads, from four to five and one-half per cent and 
was estimated would increase the railroad taxes about 
$600,000 a year. 



176 LaFollette's Winnikq or Wisconsin 

The other proposed the taxation of railroad property 
,n the advalorem basis as other property in the state. 
The tax commission had shown that while the real and 
personal property of the state were paying nearly seven- 
teen millions in taxes the railroads were paying less than 
one and a half million and that were the railroads put 
on an advalorem basis as other property they would be 
required to pay slightly over a million a year more. 
The idea was to enact whichever bill the legislature 
thought it more advisable after due study and considera- 
tion./ Long committee hearings followed. The railroads 
were represented by great and high-priced attorneys, 
while the chief defender of the bills and spokesman for 
the administration was Assemblyman Hall. The railroad 
attorneys urged the killing of both bills, urging delay 
because the tax commission had not completed its re- 
port and charging a discrepancy between the figures of 
the tax commission and those employed by the governor 
in his message. Hall constantly presented the unchal- 
lenged figures of the tax commission and thundered for 
equality in taxation. Soon, however. Hall broke down 
and was unable to attend the sessions for some weeks. 
In the meantime the railroad lobby was unceasingly 
active. It may be sufficient to quote on this score from 
a public statement made later by Assemblyman Lenroot 
in which he said : 

Mcml)crs were apjiroachefl hy representatives of the companies 
sind offered lucrative positions. This may not have been done 
with any idea of influencing votes. The reader will draw his own 
conclusions. It was a matter of common knowledge that railroad 
mileage could be procured if a member was "right." Railroad 
lands could be purchased very cheaply by members of the legisla- 
ture. It was said if a member would get into a poker game ^vith 
a lolibyist, the member was sure to win. Members opposed to 
Governor LaFollette were urged to vote against the bill, because 
he wanted it to pass. A prominent member stated that he did 
not dare to vote for the bill because he was at the mercy of the 
railroad comj)anie3, and he was afraid they would ruin his busi- 



Stibbing Legislative Session of 1901 177 

ness by advancing his rates, if he voted for it. Such were a few 
of the methods employed to defeat the bill. 

Before the bill was reported it was stated in the press 
and generally accepted that it would have the support 
of five members of the committee instead of only three 
and thus be favorably reported. Had the bill been re- 
ported when Chairman Hall wished it done such would 
probably have been the result, but at the request of a 
representative of the Wisconsin Central railroad Hall 
innocently and obligingly withheld the report for some 
time and in the meanwhile two of the five members at 
first reported favorable to the bill changed their attitude. 
It is said that the influence of a fascinating woman was 
an important factor in the ultimate defeat of the meas- 
ure. 

This betrayal of Hall's confidence was subsequently 
brought out in extended newspaper stories and amply 
verified. 

April 10, Assemblymen Zinn, Lane, Brunson and 
McCabe reported the license fee increase bill for in- 
definite postponement. A minority report was presented 
by Assemblymen Hall, Stevens and Frost. 

On April 23, after a debate in which Hall led the 
fight for the bill and Assemblymen Rossman, Orton, 
Williams and McCabe spoke against it, the bill was 
killed by a vote of 39 to 50. A number of friends of the 
bill voted against it because they preferred the adva- 
lorem bill. 

May 2/was one of the historic days of this historic 
session, one in which the governor and the legislature 
exchanged heavy blows and when the factional differ- 
ences in the republican party were sharpened and in- 
tensified to the point that promised no hope of recon- 
ciliation, and making inevitable the decisive battle of 
1904. Before the legislative sessions opened that morn- 
ing/ Governor LaFollette laid before each house his 



176 LaFoixette's Winning of Wisconsin 

The other proposed the taxation of railroad property 
• <n the advalorem basis as other property in the state. 
The tax commission had shown that while the real and 
personal property of the state were paying nearly seven- 
teen millions in taxes the railroads were paying less than 
one and a half million and that were the railroads put 
on an advalorem basis as other property they would be 
required to pay slightly over a million a year more. 
The idea was to enact whichever bill the legislature 
thought it more advisable after due study and considera- 
tion./ Long committee hearings followed. The railroads 
were represented by great and high-priced attorneys, 
while the chief defender of the bills and spokesman for 
the administration was Assemblyman Hall. The railroad 
attorneys urged the killing of both bills, urging delay 
because the tax commission had not completed its re- 
port and charging a discrepancy between the figures of 
the tax commission and those employed by the governor 
in his message. Hall constantly presented the unchal- 
lenged figures of the tax commission and thundered for 
equality in taxation. Soon, however, Hall broke do^n 
and was unable to attend the sessions for some weeks. 
In the meantime the railroad lobby was unceasingly 
active. It may be sufficient to quote on this score from 
a public statement made later by Assemblyman Lenroot 
in which he said: 

Members were approached by representatives of the companies 
and offered lucrative positions. This may not have been done 
with any idea of influencing votes. The reader will draw his own 
conclusions. It was a matter of common knowledge that railroad 
mileage could be procured if a member was "right." Railroad 
lands could be ptirchascd very cheaply by members of the legisla- 
ture. It was said if a member would get into a poker game with 
a lobbyist, the member was sure to win. Members opposed to 
Governor LaFollette were urged to vote against the bill, because 
he wanted it to pass. A prominent member stated that he did 
not dare to vote for the bill because he was at the mercy of the 
railroad companies, and he was afraid they would ruin his busi- 



Stirring Legislative Session of 1901 177 

ness by advancing his rates, if he voted for it. Such were a few 
of the methods employed to defeat the bill. 

Before the bill was reported it was stated in the press 
and generally accepted that it would have the support 
of five members of the committee instead of only three 
and thus be favorably reported. Had the bill been re- 
ported when Chairman Hall wished it done such would 
probably have been the result, but at the request of a 
representative of the Wisconsin Central railroad Hall 
innocently and obligingly withheld the report for some 
time and in the meanwhile two of the five members at 
first reported favorable to the bill changed their attitude. 
It is said that the influence of a fascinating woman was 
an important factor in the ultimate defeat of the meas- 
ure. 

This betrayal of Hall's confidence was subsequently 
brought out in extended newspaper stories and amply 
verified. 

April 10, Assemblymen Zinn, Lane, Brunson and 
McCabe reported the license fee increase bill for in- 
definite postponement. A minority report was presented 
by Assemblymen Hall, Stevens and Frost, 

On April 23, after a debate in which Hall led the 
fight for the bill and Assemblymen Rossman, Orton, 
Williams and McCabe spoke against it, the bill was 
killed by a vote of 39 to 50. A number of friends of the 
bill voted against it because they preferred the adva- 
lorem bill. 

'May 2/was one of the historic days of this historic 
session, one in which the governor and the legislature 
exchanged heavy blows and when the factional differ- 
ences in the republican party were sharpened and in- 
tensified to the point that promised no hope of recon- 
ciliation, and making inevitable the decisive battle of 
1904. Before the legislative sessions opened that morn- 
ing/Governor LaFollette laid before each house his 

12 



180 LaFollktte's Winning of Wisconsin 

in it, although the Milwaukee Sentinel rather obtusely 
observed that, "it was peculiarly undignified for Gov- 
ernor LaFf)llette to have taken this action upon so in- 
significant a measure as the licensing of dogs." 

So keenly did the thrust come home to the senate that 
Senator Roehr promptly introduced a resolution of cen- 
sure liolding "that the use of such expressions as are 
above specifically referred to transcend all bounds of 
ofiicial propriety and constitutional right. We protest, 
therefore, most earnestly as members of the legislature 
aganist the aspersion cast upon our official acts, upon 
our personal motives and upon our private characters 
by the governor in his message to the legislature." 

One of the longest and most striking debates of the 
session followed on this resolution to censure the gov- 
ernor. At times the chamber seemed to rock with pas- 
sion, while the solemnity with which some members 
semed to regard the proposed step recalled the scene, 
said an observer, when Jeff Davis retired from the 
Lnited States senate to cast his lot with the confed- 
eracy. Howover, the resolution of censure was adopted. 



CHAPTER XIII 

The Republican League and Its Activities. 

Great Organization Formed for Defeat op LaFollette— 
Headquarters Established in Hermann Building, Milwaukee 
—Big Chain of Newspapers Subsidized and Served from 
League Office— Purchase of Press Exposed by Henry E. 
Roethe and John J. Hannan— Governor Becomes Dangerously 
III— Declares Fight Must Go On. 

F LUSHED with victory, the stalwart allies in the legis- 
lature at the close of the session conspired to crush La- 
Follete in the next campaign. Both primary electjons 
and railway taxation had to be beaten. If now LaFol- 
lette could be defeated for reelection, they reasoned, a 
quietus would be put on his agitations. Confidence in- 
spired the opposition. In the administration campaign 
handbook of the year following A. R. Hall said : 

It was boastfully stated by a representative of one of the rail- 
way companies just after the defeat of the railroad taxation bills 
at the last session of the legislature, that no bills had been enacted 
into law during the sixteen years last past in the interest of the 
people when objected to by the railroads. He spoke the truth, 
and he ought to have added that no measure, no matter how darn- 
aging to the interests of the people, failed to become a law if 
wanted by the railways. 

Accordingly, a meeting of the stalwart members of 
the legislature was called in Milwaukee early in August 
and the formation of the "Republican League of Wis- 
consin" followed. In the administration press this or- 
ganization took the name of the "Eleventh Floor 
League," from the fact that the headquarters were 
opened on the eleventh floor of the Hermann building in 
Milwaukee. This was the biggest organized party re- 
bellion ever formed in the state. 

A characteristic feature of the initial meeting was 



182 LaFollette's "Winning of Wisconsin 

secrecy. Perhaps no greater or more significant tribute 
of respect was ever paid LaFollette than that accorded 
him by the so-called "telephone convention" held in 
Milwaukee in June, 1910, when several hundred stalwart 
"delegates" — elected by telephone and chiefly by one 
leader — met for the purpose of bringing about, if pos- 
sible, the defeat of LaFollette for reelection as United 
.States senator that year. This was the chief, almost the 
only purpose of that convention, yet so conscious was 
the gathering of the public sentiment in Wisconsin 
toward LaFollette that neither in the speeches made in 
the convention, nor in the resolutions adopted, was the 
name LaFollette once mentioned and only in most cir- 
cuitous phrase was he attacked. 

Something like this fear of the man and the righteous- 
ness of his cause Avas apparently felt by the members of 
the league at their first meeting in 1901. Although the 
meeting was held in Pfister's own building and although 
the Free Press "played it up" under big headlines and 
twitted its contemporary sorely over it, the Sentinel 
said not a word about it, in spite of the fact that imme- 
diately after the adjournment of the legislature it had a 
"call-to-arms" editorial headed "Where Do You 
Stand?" Even United States Senator Quarles. who had 
been one of the speakers at the meeting, and given the 
movement the endorsement of the federal machine, when 
asked if the organization would fight LaFollette replied 
with mock sincerity : "No, that is not the object ; LaFol- 
lette is a mere incident." State Senator Roehr is re- 
ported to have said : "It was merely an informal meeting 
of a lot of good fellows come together to talk about the 
weather, the crops and other things." Senator 
("Long") Jones was more frank: "Just think," he 
said, "it will be a year tomorrow since Governor LaFol- 
lette was nominated unanimously, and think of the meet- 
ing hero today! Does it not show a great change among 



The Republican League and Its Activities 183 

the people? It will not be that way in the next con- 
vention." 

On August 18, 1901, the league issued its first mani- 
festo, the keynote and substance of which was the fol- 
lowing paragraph : "As representatives of the people 
we view with alarm the persistent elfort to strengthen 
the executive at the expense of the legislative depart- 
ment of the state." 

This statement was signed by eighteen senators and 
forty-one assemblymen, who formed the nucleus of the 
league, and included the total stalwart strength of the 
legislature, and two assemblymen who had generally 
voted with the LaFollette forces. Senator W. G. 
Bissell of Lodi, a former ardent LaFollette supporter, 
was made president, and Dan B. Starkey, a trained news- 
paper man of Milwaukee, secretary of the league. 

Sumptuous headquarters well stored with good things 
were opened and a corps of newspaper men, clerks, and 
stenographers installed. Anti-LaFollette literature of 
great variety was sent broadcast over the state. In addi- 
tion an elaborate card index was installed wherein it 
was sought to list every votei- in the state with complete 
data concerning his ]i()litieal and factional bias, age, 
religion, business, and general standing in the com- 
munity, etc. To install this elaborate service a trained 
expert was brought from Nebraska and paid $10,000 
according to the Free Press. Syndicated editorials and 
news letters attacking the administration were furnished 
the press free of charge and a large number of news- 
papers were directly subsidized in the stalwart cause, 
the administration charging that the number was over 
two hundred and that from $50 to $1,500 apiece was 
paid. It is highly important that this fact of the whole- 
sale purchase of the press of the time be known to the 
historian of the future that he may properly gauge the 
worth and extent of the opposition to LaFollette while 



184 LaFollette's Winning or Wisconsin 

browsing through files of the period. The exposure by 
Henry E. Roethe, editor of the Fennimore Times, of 
attempts to buy up his editorial columns, followed by 
like exposures from other independent editors, was 
among the sensations of the year following. These ex- 
posures were brought about by John J. Hannan, later 
private secretary to Governor LaFollette. Hannan at 
the time was on the staff of the new Milwaukee Free 
Press, which, ironically enough, came into possession of 
much of the equipment and furniture of the league when 
it broke up. 

In this connection the founding shortly before this of 
the Milwaukee Free Press should be recorded as among 
the events of this period from which flowed important 
results. The Milwaukee Sentinel, which had for years 
been the chief republican organ of the state, had been a 
supporter of LaFollette. By reprinting from an Indian- 
apolis paper a reflection on Charles Pfister, it became 
involved in a damage suit brought by the big Milwaukee 
boss. In February, IDOl, before the case had been 
brought to trial, Pfister had purchased the Sentinel, dam- 
age suit and all, at a great price, and at once transformed 
it into a stalwart organ and spokesman and apologist 
of big interests generally. This created the need of a 
metropolitan administration organ which was met by 
the establishment in June. 1001. of the Milwaukee Free 
Press. Isaac Stephenson, the wealthy Marinette lumber- 
man and politician, gave the new publication its chief 
backing. 

• • • 

The defeat of his measures in the legislature and the 
aggressive following up of this advantage by the stal- 
warts, made LaFollette but the more determined to con- 
tinue his fight, and was to give a striking illustration of 
the rare fiber in the man. 

Soon after the legislative session ended he suffered a 



The Republican League and Its Activities 185 

complete physical collapse. The great physical and 
nervous strain of the long session, with its bitter contro- 
versies, labors and anxieties-, he had borne up under 
through sheer power of will, but, the strain of the session 
removed, an old stomach trouble suddenly returned to 
plague him. 

In treating his ailment it became necessary for his 
physicians to resort to heroic remedies. Every day, and 
frequently each day, he was obliged to swallow a rubber 
tube to have his stomach washed out and to have the 
effect of various foods studied. For weeks he was dan- 
gerously ill and there were startling rumors of decline, 
and that he was a cancer victim. 

One night a rumor reached the far-off city of Superior 
that the governor 's death was momentarily expected. A 
band of his close friends and supporters resolved to sit 
up and await the final sorrowful news. So this, they 
observed, was to be the end of LaFollette's long fight, 
and, of their own sacrifices. They were a sorrowful 
group. Happily their fears were not realized. 

During this period of illness a number of the gov- 
ernor's close personal and political friends called at the 
executive residence to offer such cheer as they might. 
/ In a friendly way former Governor Hoard urged him to i 
conserve his health for the sake of his family. He said I 
it was the opinion of the physicians that the governor 
should avoid the fight he contemplated making in the 
next legislature, and admitted his own weariness and 
discouragements. When LaFollette spoke he said feebly : 

It has been a hard fight. I do not feel that I have any right 
to call upon even my closest friends to make any further sacrifices. 
But with me it is different. This is the work that I have laid out 
for myself. I have started the fight and if God spares my life, I , 
will keep it up until we win. The fight must go on. 

When the men left the room there were tears in the 
ex-governor's eves as he said to John Strange: "That 



LAFOLLrPTE'S WlNNMNG OF WISCONSIN 

man'H courape and tenacity of purpose arc sublime, 
('(.mpared to him we are cringing cowards and crying 
children." 

They passed out of the room, seeming yet, as one of 
them afterward relat<'<l, to hear the words: "The fight 
must go on; tile fight must go on!" 



CHAPTER XIV 
Great Contest of 1902. 

Early Speech by LaFollette Before Farmers' Institutk 
Shows Determination to Achieve Primary Reform — Stal- 
warts Complicate Issue by Cry of "Return Spooner" — 
Whitehead Brought Out to Oppose LaFollette — Great Activ- 
ity OP Stalwart League — Administration Achieves Coup bt 
Having Convention Set for Madison — LaFollette Renom- 
inated — Convention Incidents — Qualified Endorsement of 
Spooner — Voters' Handbook a Notable Pamphlet. 



/T 



HE opening of the year 1902 gave promise of a des- 
perate factional struggle. That the opposition to LaFol- 
lette would spare no eiTort to defeat his renomination 
was an inevitable corollary of the so-called "Eleventh 
Floor" venture. 

Likewise/ if any doubt existed of an aggressive cam- 
paign by LaFollette it was quickly dispelled through a 
speech made by him before the farmers' institute at 
Oconomowoc, March 19 of that year. / In this significant 
address Governor LaFollette indicated unmistakably his 
determination to achieve genuine primary reform and 
uniform taxation, saying : 

But that the legislature failed to i)erform its duty should not 
be a cause for discouragement. It should but quicken the interest 
and make firmer the determination of every citizen in the state. 
There should be no wavering and no delay. Equal and just taxa- 
tion must come. Selfish interests may resist every inch of ground; 
may threaten, malign, and corrupt; they cannot escape the final 
issue. That which is so plain, so simple and so just will surely 
triumph. 

Events moved rapidly. In strategic brilliancy, in 
rapidity of execution, in originality and dash, it was a 
sort of Marengo campaign on LaFollette 's part. 

In February came the exposures in the Milwaukee Free 
Press of the wholesale attempt of the stalwart league to 



188 LaFollette's Winning of Wisconsin 

buy up the Wisconsin press. This proved a body blow 
to the influence of the league. A number of high-minded 
editors who found that they had been imposed upon 
repudiated the league support, while others not yet won 
over, turned peremptorily from their doors the league 
emissaries Avho later visited them. 

One day a stranger walked into the office of the editor 
of a struggling weekly in the northern part of the state. 
Introducing himself under an assumed name, he in- 
quired l)landly relative to the circulation of the paper, 
the character of its constituency, etc., and finally declared 
the purpose of his visit was to secure space for the pub- 
lication on the editorial page each week of certain polit- 
ical matter Avhich would be furnished. Feigning some re- 
luctance about considering the proposition made him, the 
editor succeeded in drawing out his mysterious visitor 
and getting a preliminary offer of a check for $1,000. 
As he still demurred in order that he might extract addi- 
tional information, tlie offer was gradually raised. But 
one after another the propositions made him he met 
with evasions or refusal. 

"Would you consider $5,000?" asked the visitor fin- 
ally, with a half-jesting, half-serious intonation. 

"No," replied the now transformed genius of the 
dingy sanctum. "I recognize your true character at last. 
You are a political scavenger from the Hermann build- 
ing. I can have nothing to do witli you. You have 
insulted me beyond measure, asking a man to sell his 
very soul. I cannot conceive how 3'ou could stoop any 
lower. There is the door!" 

The visitor reddened and standing his ground said 
threateningly: "You have insulted me, calling me such 
names as vou have, and vou shall answer to me in court 
for it!" 

Picking up a heavy mallet the editor advanced upon 
his tempter. "Clear out of here!" he shouted; "not 



Great Contest of 1902 189 

another word; and I further warn you to never let me 
hear from you again." 

The visitor rapidly backed out of the office and the 
editor heard no more of him, but soon thereafter a rival 
sheet farther down the street appeared in espousal of 
the stalwart cause. The second editor approached 
proved far more mild-mannered and pliable than the 
first and let his columns go for the campaign for $900. 
So the visit of the stalwart "agent, to the town was not 
fruitless after all, and he could have but the one regret 
that fortune had not more kindly directed him on his 
first arrival there. But the experience was all in the 
day's work of that character and could be expected. 

Historical completeness would require the further 
somewhat curious record that both of these editors were 
shipwrecked on the rock of LaFolletteism. The one who 
sold himself out was soon afterwards repudiated and 
deserted by his constituency for so doing, while the 
other, who remained unpurchaseable, went down through 
his zeal for the reform cause, which led him to neglect 
his paper's interests until he was overwhelmed with 
disaster. 

In a sketch of LaFollette prepared that year by 
Ernest N. Warner of Madison a comparison was sug- 
gested between LaFollette and Hannibal, the Cartha- 
ginian general, who, abandoned by his plutocratic nation 
and cut off from all supplies from home, raised an army 
out of the barbarians about him and not only main- 
tained himself in a hostile country, but for years de- 
feated every army the great empire of Rome sent against 
him. The comparison was not so far-fetched. LaFol- 
lette faced a most trying situation at this period. A 
powerful opposing organization, backed by great re- 
sources of money, had been formed within his party; 
his health was seriously impaired, and so far from having 
any surplus money his organization had a large debt 
from the previous campaign to meet. 



LAFoLLnTE's Winning of Wisconsin 

To repair his healtli, the governor early in the spring 
took a cottage at Lake Kegonsa, fourteen miles from 
MadiRon. aiul by hoi-seback rides between that point and 
the capital recouped his strength. Borrowing $1,000 
himself, he started a campaign fund with that sum, 
while devoted friends— some of them quite poor— 
Htretched themselves to the- utmost to add to it. 

The campaigning that year was exceeded in sharpness 
only in the great contest two years later./ In the pre- 
convention campaign the administration side pressed the 
issues of endorsement <if G(»vernor LaFollette, primarj' 
elections and railway taxation, while the stalwarts at 
first made their fight on the personality of LaFoUette. 
Realizing, however, tluit tlhs was an unpromising issue 
alone, they created another by demanding the re-election 
by the next legislature of Senator John C. Spooner. 
When it became apparent in 1900 that nothing could 
stem the LaFollette tide, Spooner, in seeming fear, as 
has been shown, addressed a letter to the republicans of 
Wisconsin, announeiiig that he would not again be a 
candidate for the senate. Then without coming home 
from Washington he bought a summer home iu New 
Hampshire and going there remained away from the 
statf until a few days ])efore the end of the campaign. 
Now by a strange contingency he was again made a can- 
di<latc, without his own seeking, not so much that he 
might be returnt'd to the senate as that thereby LaFol- 
lette might be defeated throuirh a new pai-ty alignment 
whicli it was hopcii to create. 

Although th«' administration side in its handbook dis- 
claim«'<l opposition to Spooner, the stalwart organs 
vigorously fatnifd the flame of a supposed feud between 
the governor niul the senator and tliis was undoubtedly 
the principal eaj>ital that yielded tlie stalwarts results in 
the campaign. The stalwart machine strength was cen- 
'•"-.•d upon State Senator John M. Whitehead of Janes- 



Great Contest of 1902 191 

ville, an outspoken foe of LaFollette, who announced his 
candidacy for the governorship as early as February 24. 
To further his candidacy Whitehead wrote a long series 
of heavy letters, principally on the subject of taxation, 
but it is doubtful if they made him any votes. Of these 
letters the stalwart history of the period says : ' ' When 
passions were at white heat and no man who took part 
in the campaign in any capacity, much less a candidate, 
could escape personal abuse, these letters and the public 
addresses later delivered by Senator Whitehead were 
anachronisms." 

The Mihvankee Sentinel and other league papers had 
early in the year raised a great cry to ' ' Return Spooner ' ' 
and it early showed results. For instance, by this slogan, 
coupled with quick action, the stalwarts succeeded in 
capturing the machinery of the republican club of the 
University of Wisconsin, electing T. P. Abel, of Kenosha 
president over Harry W. Adams of Black Earth. Pros- 
pective candidates for the legislature were early visited 
and promised stalwart support if they would pledge 
themselves for Spooner, a move that was successful in 
many instances, in moderating the activities of such can- 
didates. Even a number of the big newspapers of the 
state, who had supported LaFollette, yielded to the 
arguments of the league, pleading in excuse the necessity 
of returning Spooner. On April 26 the Oshkosh North- 
western, a LaFollette supporter, began its desertion of 
the governor by an editorial headed "Spooner Should Be 
Endorsed." While professing to favor the renomina- 
tion of LaFollette, it took the position that it was easier 
to find gubernatorial timber than another senator like 
Spooner. About the same time the ^¥isconsin State 
Journal at Madison began wavering. Its new editor, 
Amos P. Wilder, had been a strong supporter of LaFol- 
lette, but coming from aristocratic environments in the 
east, he could not stomach the LaFollette practice of 



IM I^Follftte's Winning or Wisconsin 

ftdvancint,' t<. places of power and respectability men 
fri.in farms and small country towns. Declaring edito- 
rially that LaFullette was surrounded by "men whose 
characters are objectionable and whose qualifications are 
pitiful," he 8ou{?ht for a time to support the opposing 
ideals represented in Spooner and LaFollette, but finally 
went over wholly to Spooner and the stalwart cause, 
after boarinp the ridicule of practically the entire Mil- 
waukee press for his indecision. 

However, the "half-breed" movement, as the LaFol- 
lette cause now came to be derisively called by the opposi- 
tion, was not without its literary resources. /Printer's 
ink had always been a strong reliance with LaFollette 
and in this campaign it took the form of a "Voters' 
IIundlxMik." / This was a political publication of 144 
elo.sely -writ ten pages and made its appearance about May 
1. It gave a history of the legislative session of the year 
before, roll calls on all important measures, the story 
of the Kepubliean League, and a mass of other political 
history and argument from the administration point of 
view. For historical completeness and literary effective- 
ness, it is the high water mark of individual political 
pamphlets in Wisconsin, and it is safe to say' it greatly 
influenced results in the compaign. Aside from con- 
tributions from Assemblymen Hall, Lenroot and David 
Evans, .Jr.,iit was largely the work of LaFollette himself, 
his private secretary. Col. Jerre C. Murphy, and John 
J. Ilannan. The expenses of its publication and dis- 
tribution were met by about twenty-five of LaFollette 's 
nirwl prominent supporters throughout the state. 

Copii-s were sent to almost every voter in the state. 
Various circular letters were also sent out. One issued 
from n Madison law office June 25 contained in part this 
Hlartliiig language, indicative of the lengths to which 
the eoiUest was being waged: 

"The events which occurred here a few days ago 



Great Contest of 1902 193 

should serve as a warning to the entire state. The 
Bolters' league spent thousands of dollars of corporation 
money in Dane county in an efifort to carry the caucuses. 
League supporters have boasted that $25,000 of this 
money was used in the city of Madison alone. Tickets 
folded with $10 bills were covertly passed to voters by 
workers with the request to vote the one and pocket the 
other and say nothing. This work while done with a 
certain degree of caution covered so large a field as to 
lead to frequent rejection and discovery." 

The reform cause also had able pamphleteers and 
volunteer contributors who championed it on high ethical 
grounds. Among such was Theron W. Haight of 
Waukesha, whose writings Avere notable for their power 
and literary finish. 

One of the sensational incidents of the early part of 
the campaign and productive of many long newspaper 
stories was the break between Congressman H. B. Dahk- 
of Mt. Horeb and Governor LaFollette. 

While LaFollette was making his various campaigns 
for the governorship several shrewd and desperate at- 
tempts were made to carry Dane county against him in 
order that through repudiation at home he might be 
weakened in the eyes of the state. To effect this end 
the Norwegian nationality, which was strong in thg 
county, was drawn upon for stalking horses, and in this 
manner a number of bitter opponents were raised up 
who proved to be thorns in the side of LaFollette, until 
he had grown beyond their power of effective injury. 
Thus in 1898, John L. Erdall, a brilliant young Nor- 
wegian lawyer of Madison who held the position of as- 
sistant attorney general, became a candidate for attorney 
general. His announcement brought about an embar- 
rassing situation when LaFollette later decided to enter 
the field for governor, as, naturally, no state convention 
could be expected to put two men from the same county 

13 



LAKorxBTTK s Winning or Wisconsin 

on llic ticket. Uia- or the other W(juld have to give way. 
Mr. Erdall chose to stay in the field, however, and went 
down to defeat, the county convention electing LaPol- 
Iftte delejrati'S to the state convention and turning down 
the proposed list of dele;;ates for Erdall, who thus failed 
of nomination. Soon afterward Erdall left the state to 
enter the service of a great corporation, thus closing the 
door on what his friends believed, and still believe, he 
couhl Imve commanded in the state, a bi'illiant profes- 
sional and political future. 

This scheme to take the county from under LaFollette 
by pressing another local candidate for the state ticket 
wa.s again tried in VM'2 when Xels Ilolman of Deerfield 
was brought out for secretary of state. Holman was 
of Norwegian descent, editor of the Deerfield News, and 
through long and conspicuous service on the county 
board had built up a wide acquaintance and influence 
in the county. He also was to meet with disaster on the 
test of strength with LaFdllette at the county convention. 
From having been an early supporter, Ilolman thus be- 
came a bitter enemy of the governor and waged relent 
less war on him thereafter, and occasionally carried his 
town against liim. 

Anotlier Norwegian of some influence in tiie count} 
who alsd became arrayed against the governor this yeai 
was Torger (}. Thompson of Cambridge. Thompson Avas 
ft Wfulthy land owner who had served a term in the as- 
s.-inbly and who, while friendly to LaFollette in tiie 
l»otjinning. .soon became a violent opponent of the gov- 
ernor. In rJ04 he was brought out as a candidate for 
state senator, but failed of nomination. 

By clever manipulation, aided by certain misunder- 
•tandings, the same forces brought about an estrange- 
ment between the governor and Congressman Dalile, a 
hitherto lifelong friend and supporter of LaFollette, 
after Dahle ha«l served two terms in congress. It was 



Great Coxtest of 1902 



195 




STATE OFFICERS, 1003-«»7 

1 — Robert M. LaFollette. Governor. 2 — James O. 
Davidson, Lieutenant Governor. 3 — Walter L. Houser, 
Secretary of State. 4 — John J. Kempf, State Treas- 
urer. 5 — C. P. Gary, State Superintendent. G — L. M. 
Sturdevant. Attorney General. 7 — John W. Thomas. 
Railroad Commissioner. 8 — Zeno M. Host, Insurance 
Commissioner. 



IM LAFotLETTr. 's Winning ok Wisconsin 

one of the rttjrettable incidents of this eventful period, a 
political iraij.'dy that terminated the public career of the 
con»»r»>ssniaii and h'ft many ranklin^'s behind. 

It were a fjross injustice to attribute ulterior or un- 
worthy motives to all the so-called stalwarts. As is the 
case over all issues and regarding all forceful men, there 
wore honest difTerfnees of opinion. Many stalwai'ts 
wen- more honest and better patriots than many in the 
camp of ref(»rm ; many opposed the governor because 
thpy did not know tlie man. misunderstood him or 
were misled regarding him. It is a significant fact that 
where liaFollette is best known he has always been 
firmly nxtted in the confidence of the people and that 
in the campaign of 1902 and again in that of 1904 the 
counties that he visited came over, as a rule, to his sup- 
port, while those that he left out of his circuit frequently 
showeil indifTer«Mit or hostile returns. Many also wearied 
of the long fight ; many of iiearing Aristides called just. 
A large ela.s.s was actuated in its opposition by petty and 
Rordi<l pers<^)nal interests, while many of the older voters 
who bel.eved in the fetieh of party loyalty througli good 
or evil report — whose vision was retrospective — frowned 
upon the departures wliieh threatened to disrupt and 
divide the grand old party. The active and interested 
opp<»Rition came, however, fidm the big corporations who 
Httw in LaFollette's a.seendency a menace to the con- 
tinuation of tiler privileges, and from the old wheel 
horses of the parly, the governmental agents of these 
interests, who al.so foresaw their tenures of office and 
privileges in jt'opardy. I'pon all these previously named 
clementK— the indilTerent. the unknowing, the wavering, 
the mercenary— the big interests played with all the 
cunn.ng that ingenuity could devise and all the power 
that wealth enuld command. 

Illustrative of the sharp practices referred to was an 
incident from the far northern i)art of the state. It was 



Grkat Coxiest of 1902 197 

highly important that a certain ward of a city be carried 
by the LaFollette forces, as with the carrying of this 
ward went the vote of the whole county. This ward was 
controlled by a saloonkeeper in wdiose resort centered all 
the disreputable interests of the city. To secure the 
ward political sagacity demanded the winning over of 
this northern Hinky Dink. 

Two LaFollette workers, both of whom have since 
become more or less prominent in state and national 
affairs, accordingly went to his resort one Sunday after- 
noon. Waiving the proffered drinks which the some- 
what surprised saloonkeeper sent spinning before them, 
they accepted cigars and in due season broached their 
proposition of a " political trade. ' ' 

"If you'll deliver the ward to us, and we win, you 
can have the naming of the next inspector of the dis- 
trict," said one. 

"Well," replied the flattered boss slowly, "I kin 
deliver the ward, and I spose yer word is good." 

"You can depend upon it." 

Agreed. More cigars and exit emissaries. 

The ward was duly delivered and the county carried. 
Later, by the way, when LaFollette had been nominated, 
elected and inaugurated the same emissaries presented 
themselves before the resort keeper to observe their part 
of the pact. Stroking his ruddy jaw, the rotund boss 
observed with a twinkle: "Yez said I might have the 
naming of the next inspector. Well, I think I'll take 
the job myself." 

The emissaries nearly wilted at this unexpected de- 
velopment, but the bargain was a bargain, thej^ declared, 
and should be kept. The saloon man was duly appointed. 
But it was the last pact made with him ; no further polit- 
ical relations with him were maintained. Failing of 
reappointment, he sought in the following election to 
swing his ward against LaFollette, but did not succeed. 



108 LaFoI.I.KTTK's WlNNINfJ OK WISCONSIN 

LaFollette now had the county and liis <.M-ip upun it lias 
remained unshaken since. 

There were phases of the preliminary skirmishini^ of 
a lighter nature. One of the charges brought against 
LaFollette Avas that he had proved himself unfriendly 
to the old soldiers by letting out a number of veterans 
who had positions in the capitol under Governor Scofield, 
whereupon ^M. J. Rawson, a LaFollette soldier appointee, 
issued a letter showing that at the close of Scofield's 
administration there were thirty-nine old soldiers in and 
around the capitol with an annual pay roll of $42,760. 
while in 1902 there were forty on the list with a pay roll 
of $45,416, thus showing a close shave in LaFollette 's 
favor. 

However, LaFollette was not fortunate in his relations, 
on the whole, with the old soldiers. In every section of 
tlie state they were found among his most bitter oppo- 
nents, although no one had been more energetic and suc- 
cessful in securing pensions for his veteran constituents 
than LaFollette while a member of congress. This an- 
tipathy finds its explanation largely in the natural resis- 
tance of an older order to a new, the natural jealousies 
of age at the aspirations and reforming tendencies of 
youth. The vision of the veteran became more and more 
retrospective as the great episode in his life receded, 
and he sometimes forgot that this was now an episode 
of the past and its issues no longer important factors in 
the shaping of the future, in short that the world was 
going forward. Fp to the closing years of the last cen- 
tury the old soldier vote w^as the big element to which 
the republican party made appeal. When finally this 
dwindling element lost its great importance as a voting 
asset shrewd i)oliticians saw the practical wisdom of 
bidding for the support of the rising generation. The 
new movement typified by LaFollette turned from the 
sentimental past to the looming future and it should 



Great CoxiEsr of 1902 



199 



/V\R. LA FOLLETTE'S STROINGEST CARD. 




\ ^'H/^/tcin 



A Famous LaFollette Cartoon, Chicapro Tribune, 1911 



occasion no wonder that many who had worn the blue 
found it difficult to reverse their mental processes. 

Also the Mihvaukee Sentinel criticized the governor for 
not attending the Norwegian celebration at Eau Claire. 
May 17, although it had frequently charged him with 
demagogic attempts to strengthen himself with the na- 
tionality. 

In the meantime organization bv both sides was going 



coo l.vKoM.rTTF. 's WlNNINli OK WISCONSIN 

lapully lorwanl aiul sharp caiieus battles were beginninj,' 
in the counties. The stalwart league was particularly 
active from its Milwaukee head(iuarters. 

Hut a shrewd taetieal move conceived by LaFoUette 
aiul utterly um-xpeeted by the opposition was to make 
the physical position of the league of little strategic 
value. This was the taking of the state convention away 
from .Milwaukee. The stalwart headquarters were in 
.MilwauktM-; tlu-y had been established there at great 
expense; there was to be the battlefield of the campaign; 
there were mas.se«l all the interests and all the iuHuences 
opposed to LaP'ollette; all the plans and thoughts of the 
opposition leaders ri'volved in blissful serenity arouiul 
the idea that things were fixed there. When therefore a 
Htory appeared in the newspajjcrs of April 22 that the 
state central crmmittee was considering holding the 
state convention in Mad son the stalwart press raised 
indignant |)rotesf. 

Kver since 1SS4 the state conventions had been held 
at .Milwaukee, but remembering the cpiestionable prac- 
tices that had charactcri/ed many of them and his own 
disastrous experience in 1S!)G. LaFollette resolved when 
he had a stat<' central c< mmittee of his own mind to 
remove the convention from the c(U-rui)ting atmosphere 
of a great city to a place where the delegates could the 
more freely represent the wishes of the people and l)e 
less beset by temptations and the harassings (»f unprin- 
cipled agents. It was a |)olitit'al stroke worthy the 
genius and audacity of LaFollette and when first an- 
nounced created consternation in the ranks of the old 
wheelhorses of the party, who were accustomed to doing 
things in the .Milwaukee way. Why, it was an alVront 
to the big nuMi of the party and a rcfiection mi their 
nu'thods. they deelnred. The eonvention belonged to .Mil- 
waukee by every right of usaire and precedent. Mil- 
waukee was the reeo<_'ili/e(i |Kililie;il ea|)ital of the state: 



Gkkat Contest of 1902 



201 



here lived most of the "big- fellows" who had grown 
gray in its service. It Avas the only place where the 
delegates could be fittingly entertained and given a good 
time. Why change the old order of things and trundle 
the whole machinery over to Madison .' It was a sinister 
scheme of the governor's, they declared, to keep the con- 
vention more easily in hand for his own manipulation 
and to entrench himself the more securely. Candor com- 
pels the admission that there was no doubt about this, but 
the higher moral ground on whicli the governor urged 
the change— the greater safeguarding of the delegates 
from the corrupting influences, open and insidious, of a 
great city— could not be assailed and this argument 
outweighed the charge of self-seeking. 80 the scene was 
transferred from the environment of palm gardens and 
tinkling cut glass to the pure atmosphere and classic 
shades of a university. 

Nevertheless, when the state central committee voted 
on May 20 to hold the convention in Madison, the Mil- 
waukec Sentinel pronounced it a "colossal blunder." 
The convention opened at the university gymnasium 
July 16. Some idea of the importance the press attached 
to it may be formed from the fact that the Mihcaukee 
Sentinel transferred its headquartei-s and practically its 
entire editorial force, bag and baggage, to Madison. Not 
only did Charles Pfister, its owner, and his business 
manager come, but M. C. Douglas, the managing editor; 
John Poppendieck, city editor; Gil. Vandercook and 
Sumner Curtis, special writers; and several other re- 
porters, a staff of artists and photographers, a brigade 
of uniformed messengers and newsboys and a brass band 
of twenty pieces. This was the time wheji under its 
new millionaire management the Sentinel was pouring 
out money like water to advertise itself and stem the 
tide of loss in subscriptions and prestige it was experienc- 
ing through advocating an uni")oi)ular cause. Barns, 



'J02 



LAFou,»rrrK-s Winnino ok Wisconsin 



faelorv walls, fcu-es. and billboards even to he Kock> 
Mo MUains. it is sai.l. bla/.onod its name and selt-vaunted 
a in ioat and lurid capitals. On this occasion spe- 
Z lu-a.lMnarters wore engaged at Mad.son -th Pr.va e 
X-raphic and telephone equipment for facditating the 
handling .,f th.' oeean of copy that its mdustrious staff 
,,i,,a „p. Hvcn the heads <.f the st<.ries were written ni 
Mad.son and telephoned to Milwaukee. Whde this was 
..„ unif<.rmed newsies of stent<.rian lung cried up the 
startlnl town, thr band paraded the streets or gave eon- 
corts from a stan.l of its own erected in the capitol 
park and a fore <.f <>ther employes kept sending np 
kites over the citv and lakes advertising the paper. 
Mtogether it was ilu' most remarkable b.t of newspaper 
,.„terprise <'ver attempted in the state. One ni.iunction 
o„lv was impressed upon the reporters l)y Managing 
Kditor Douglas-" Don t knock LaFollette or the city 
(.f Madison while wt- are there." 

It was a stirring and memorable convention with Levi 
II lianeroft of Kieliland Center acting as permanent 
i-liainnan. Fierv speeelies were features of the occa- 
.sion. Completely overwhelmed in the matter of dele- 
gates, the stalwarts abandoned everything else in a su- 
preme elTort to -et an umpialifled endorsement for 
Spcu.ner. Compelled to meet the Spooner issue, the ad- 
ministration accepted a tril)Ute to the distinguished 
senator and then addetl an amendment expressing the 
hope that he wonl.l find his way clear to share the views 
of the party, in the event of which none should be more 
highly honored. The platform committee even "rubbed 
it in." as was said at the time, by referring to Spooner "s 
"announced determination" not to serve the state again 
in the senate. This jilank i)roved gall and wormwood 
to the stalwarts aii<l in the heat of the controvi-rsy helped 
to alienate many well-meaning voters hitherto friendly 
to the administration. Hut it was deemed imperative, 



Great Contest of 1902 



203 



iu view of past history. In a letter published August 31 
that year Governor LaFollette said, referring to the 
fight everj^where made on him in the name of Spooner, 
and the defeat of his legislation through the activity of 
Spooner appointees : 

For these reasons the overwhelming majority of the conven- 
tion felt that if the United States senatorship were in any way 
made part of the platform, it must be so done as not to be subject 
to the construction that it was an approval of what had been at- 
tempted and accomplished in the name of a United States senator. 
Another embarrassing situation Avas narrowly averted 
at the convention in connection with the so-called scandal 
involving the state central committee and the independ- 
ent book companies. It had come to the ears of former 
Speaker George A. Buckstaff of Oshkosh that a sum of 
$2,000 had been contributed to the state central com- 
mittee by independent book companies on condition that 
L. D. Harvey, superintendent of public instruction, 
should not again be made a candidate. Harvey was 
stalwart in sympathy, was serving his second term and 
was slated by the administration leaders for retirement. 
However, the stalwarts continued him in the field. He 
Avas charged by the independent companies with having 
been over-friendly to the book trust and the independent 
companies were active in opposing him. 

It was reported to the administration leaders that 
Buckstaff was going to urge the renomination of Harvey 
at the convention and to flaunt to the world his alleged 
discovery of the use of money to defeat him. 

Accordingly, it was a^-ranged that when Rock county 
should be announced in the roll call L. E. Gettle of that 
county should place in nomination Charles P. Gary of 
Delavan and thus forestall Buckstaff, as Winnebago 
county would not be reached in the roll call until later. 

Gettle was told by Henry F. Cochems and others to 
"make it strong" and to assert that a conspiracy was on 
foot to beat Gary and to blacken his character by uii- 



204 LaFoi.i-f.tte 's Winning of Wisconsin 

justly coniieeting him Avitli the book money charges. 
Gettle had the voice of a Bashan bull, and roared accord- 
ingly, to permit such figure, and the convention gave 
him such vociferous pre-arranged applause that when 
Buckstaff's turn came he did not dare, or did not choose, 
to make the charges he was supposed to be treasuring up. 

In the meantime another interesting byplay was in 
progress. It was felt that to beat Harvey it would be 
necessary to concentrate the administration vote. There 
were two candidates su])ported by the administration 
delegates. Mr. Cary and 0. J. Schuster. While events 
were hurrying toward a vote Henry F. Cochems, en- 
tirely on his own responsibility, rushed over to Schuster 
and dragging the latter behind one of the arches of the 
gymnasium said : 

"You must release your delegates; we can't afford to 
divide our strength. And you must do it right now. 
AVe'll take care of you afterwards.'' 

Schuster gave the word and Cary was nominated. 

There were also lighter features to relieve the situation. 
Former Governor W. D. Hoard was the only LaFollette 
delegate from Jefferson county and when this county 
was called on for nomination, he rose and said: "On 
behalf of the one LaFollette delegate from Jefferson 
county, I desire to second his renomination." Also 
when E. L. Philipp of Milwaukee, Avho had fought La- 
Follette hard, was named by Chairman Bancroft on the 
connnittee to notify Governor LaFollette of his renomi- 
nation, there was a general laugh. Philipp reddened and 
began perspiring violently, whereupon a neighboring 
delegate fanned him vigorously with a Scniinel "keep- 
cool" palm-leaf until it was time for him to go and find 
the governor. 

Governor LaFollette 's name was presented to the con- 
vention by his friend, H. W. Chynoweth, of Madison. 
He was renominated on the first ])allot bv a vote of 



»rrTE'.s Winning ok Wisconsin 

,..,, I.. _.... .■ . Wliilehead. Ivlward Scofield received 
five votes and W. II. Fr.)ehlicli three. The other nomi- 
nees on the ticket were : P\)r lieutenant governor, James 
O. Davidsuii ; secretary of state. Walter L. Huuser ; treas- 
urer, John J. Kempf; attorney general, L. M. Sturde- 
vant; superintendent of public instruction, Charles P. 
Cary; railroad commissioner, John W. Thomas; coni- 
missioner of insurance, Zeno M. Host. 

The platform denounced the federal office-holding 
lobby and called for the enactment of the bills defeated 
in the last session of the legislature. A reminder of 
broken pledges was given the stalwart league legislators 
in the cold, brief sentence. "We adopt the last republican 
slate platform and reatliriu its principles.". 

When Governor LaFollette accompanied by the com- 
mittee on notification pressed through the throng of 
newspaper men at the front and mounted the platform 
to accept the nomination, a memorable scene was pre- 
sented. In the sweltering heat a large number of the 
deletjates and spectators had doffed their coats and had 
further resorteil to fans to keep cool. ]\[any had rolled 
up their sleeves ami thrown open their shirt fronts. 

On the appearance of the governor a tremendous shout 
went up. with thou.sands of coats, hats, fans and news- 
papers Hying through the air. while hundreds of spec- 
tators climbed upon tiieir ehairs and gave vent to their 
feelings in prolonged cheers. As for LaFollette, it was 
the greatest moment of triumph, so far, in his stormy 
career. No other contest had approached this one in 
intensity, none called for greater resolution or more 
heroic leadership. Not only had he been forced to face 
the powerful party rebellion set in motion by the Repub- 
lican League, but likewise the cleverly-projected issue 
over Spof.ner, then so powerful a name with which to 
eotijtire. Hut he had risen unfalteringly to the occasion. 
He had stofMJ nneonipromisingly for his principles ami 



Great Contest of 1902 207 

victory had crowned his courage. This was his supreme 
moment. 

Now as he appeared upon the platform there was an 
aspect of resolution akin to fierceness in his look. His 
face seemed pale and caredrawn. He satisfied the con- 
ception of the dictator come panting from the final blow 
in the field. Beginning in a cold and measured voice, 
he soon shifted to the varied stops of the accomplished 
orator and spoke with masterly effect and inspiration 
till the veins on his neck and brow stood out like whip- 
cords. Yet there was no word or note of revenge in his 
address. On the contrary, he said in closing : 

Gentlemen, the contest through which we have just passed 
strengthens the pillars of government by the people and for the 
people. It teaches the saeredness of public obligation. It elevates 
moral standards in public life. 

These are lessons which we should cherish. Let all else of this 
contest be forgotten. It does not signify who began it or why it 
was begun. It has been decided. Let that suffice. I do not 
treasure one personal injury nor lodge in memory one personal 
insult. With individuals I have no quarrel and will have none. 
The span of my life is too short for that. But so much as it 
pleases God to spare unto me I shall give, whether in public service 
or out of it, to the contest for good government. 

Then as he concluded there was the touching human 
descent as stepping back amid the tumult he kissed his 
daughter, patted his little sons on the head and took the 
hand of his wife. 

The pitiful lack of leadership in the stalwart ranks 
as contrasted with the administration organization and 
as exemplified in the outcome of this convention led to 
the following editorial observation by the Wisconsin 
State Journal: 

NEW ER.\ IN W1SC0N.S1N POLITICS. 

A new era in Wisconsin politics is here. Tlie men in town 
today — young, earnest, enthusiastic — are the material about which 
the party of the future is to rally. It would be useless to impeach 
them. They have been made fools of in the matter of Spooner; 



20H L.\ Koi.LETTE 's Winning ok Wisconsin 

but thpfio men are licrc in the party to stay and learn. Sawyer is 
dMil: Harjihaw is a phyMioul wro<k. Jinlne Keyes is in the cab, 
but hi.t haml im no lonRor on the tlirottle. Cham IngersoU's step 
b IcM I. risk. Mr. Pfistor is not old, Init he is no leader of party — 
an auditor only. Cn-noral Winkler is the grand, old man, when 
youth ill calm to listen. Spooner is a versatile intellect, but no 
moro cnpalde of niannging a jiarty than is the expert on Sinaitii- 
manuMoriptH in the Hritish museum. Jones of Waukesha is a useful 
man, but he has passed the deadline of constructive party work. 
In I'MTy city and town are a few old fellows who ''don't like the 
looks of things, " and will take you Ijy the button hole and tell you 
of the civil war. The jirocession has moved on and they don't 
know it. The rejiublican jiarty of Wisconsin as it is and is to be 
in in town today. Old things have jiassed away. It is useless to 
talk of a party to oppose them. You could call such a conference, 
but the company could pass itself off for an old settlers' reunion. 
The youth, the hopK?, the future, are in town today. They have 
renominated LaFollette. They are "it." 

roiitiiiuiiif;, the i)aper .said solemnly: 

Tho Stair Journal will support the ticket, liut give unfolding 
«venta the close watch made imperative by LaFollette 's slaughter 
of Hitooner. Uod save the commonwealth of Wisconsin ! 



CHAPTER XV 

Reactionary Policy of Democrats. 

Convention Dominated by Corporation Influences — Dave 
Rose Nominated — Bryan Denounces Party State Platform — 
Bryan's Further Attitude Toward Wisconsin Reform Move- 
ment — Many Leading Democrats Silent — LaFollette Makes 
Gre.\t Opening Speech at Milwaukee — Stirring Campaign of 
Many Incidents — LaFollette Meets Spooner Issue — LaFol- 
lette Re-elected — Democratic Defection Estimated at 30,000. 

rvEMARKABLE as was the republican convention of 
that year, that of the democratic party was no less strik- 
ing from another point of view. It was to prove one of 
humiliating memory. 

Never had there been exliibited in a convention of the 
party a greater lack of high leadership ; never a more 
pathetic lack of vision as to issues. Tn spite of the fact 
that in previous campaigns the party had declared for 
primary elections, and more equitable taxation of the 
properties of railroads and other corporations, it now 
yielded completely to the corporations and put forth 
a blundering and reactionary declaration of principles. 
It is true that LaFollette had appropriated all the issues 
upon which reasonable appeal could be made, but instead 
of affirming the same principles the democrats with some- 
thing of their old-time party stupidity took an opposing 
and weaker position, pronouncing the primary principle, 
for instance, "un-American and undemocratic." 

It was appropriate that heading the ticket nominated 
on this platform should be Mayor Dave Rose of Mil- 
waukee, he of the dictum, "this dying for principle is 
all rot." 

Held in Milwaukee September 3, the convention was 
completely dominated by the so-called "city hall gang" 

14 



L'lii I.aFoi.i.kti'k's Winning ok Wisconsin 

of the metropolis, largely composed of mere tools of the 
privilepe-seeking corporations, whose representatives 
from all jjurties swarmed about the hall. 

It was a matter of wonder to many how this bi-partisan 
l)0(iy was held tf)gether. and managed by Rose, but it 
%va.s not so remarkable in view of the hold Rose had upon 
the city electftrate, as shown by his repeated elections 
as mayor. lie exercised a peculiar influence over his 
tiiwiisjteople. to whom he ajipeared as guide, philosopher 
and friend. Once a girl from the country was told by 
her landlady that she had committed an error in going 
into a certain "palm garden" one eveniiig. 

"Why," she replied in naive astonishment, "I saw 
Mayor Rose and a l(jt of women in there." 

At the time of the Bigelow bank embezzlement a great 
and embarrassing run on the bank was threatened. All 
night long people gathered in front of the building and 
morning found a clamorous mob, composed largely of 
laboring people of many nationalities, stretching for 
blocks away waiting to swoop upon the bank and with- 
draw their slender deposits as soon as the doors should 
be opened. The mayor was called upon to see what he 
could do to reassure the panicky depositors. With his 
imposing front he appeared before them. 

"Citizens of Milwaukee," he said impressively, "you 
all know Dave Rose" (Cheers). "Every cent that I 
have is in this bank, and if I had any more inonoy. I'd 
put it in theiv." 

It was enough. Th.- anxious K.ilers who had stood 
all night in the street went haek empty-handed to their 
inimble homes. 

The demoeratie platform created a sensation through- 
out the country. William J. Bryan, in an editorial in 
The Commoner, denounced the convention body as "a 
«;et of blunderers aiul pditieal cowards." 



Reactionary Policy of Democrats 211 

"The democrats," he said, "instead of standing by 
him (LaFollette) when he was right and appealing to 
the country on the national issues, in which he is wrong, 
adopted the short-sighted policy of trying to. conciliate 
that element of the republican party which can never be 
democratic. To denounce a primary law as "un-Amer- 
ican and un-democratic " is to betray an ignorance of 
what democracy really is," etc. 

LaFollette said later of this convention: "The cor- 
porations having failed to control the republican con- 
vention were given the control of the opposing conven- 
tion without contest. The platform adopted in that con- 
vention was the joint work of the corporation elements 
of both political parties. The republican bosses, re- 
pudiated by the republican state convention, refused to 
recognize the republican platform and gave their sup- 
port to the opposition, while thousands of democrats 
openly supported the principles in the republican con- 
vention." 

Also in his great opening speech in Milwaukee Sep- 
tember 30 that year he pictured a phase of the proceed- 
ings in these graphic words : 

But, mark you, the convention which assembled in Milwaukee 
on the third day of this month adopted a platform which contained 
no hint or suggestion or criticism of that republican legislature 
for violating its promise to make railroads and other public-service 
corporations pay their just share of the taxes! 

Marvelous sjiectacle indeed! In a state convention the most 
important legislative proceeding in a generation of time — legisla- 
tive action which had saved the railroads more than a million 
dollars a year at the expense of the other taxpayers of the state — 
is barred from all mention by an impenetrable wall of silence. 

Was not that a very strange proceeding for a political con- 
vention? Can a similar instance be found in all the political his- 
tory of the entire country? It is quite apparent that someone 
sought to have incorporated in that platform a condemnation of 
the legislature for not passing the railroad and other corporation 
tax bills. It is equally plain that the influences which were pro- 
tecting corpor.-ition interests in that convention compelleil it to 



212 LaFoli.ettk. 's Wixxixc of Wisconsin 

perform hari-kari with the resolution as originally drawn. It^was, 
as anyone can see by consulting the seventh resolution of that 
platform, written in the beginning (omitting the preliminary in- 
troductory words) as follows: 

"During the two years of control of the legislative machinery 
no effective steps have been taken for the establishment of a sys- 
tem of equal taxation. ' ' 

But it would not do to leave it in that form. That would 
stand as a criticism of the men in the legislature who had helped 
kill the railroad tax bills. That must be changed. They had 
agreed to ' ' be quiet about the legislature, and abuse the governor. 
Both objects could be attained by just writing in after the word 
"taken" the words "by the governor," so that the resolution 
wlien amended would read as follows: 

■ • During the two years of control of the legislative machinery 
no effective steps have been taken by the governor for the estab- 
lisliment of a system of equal taxation." 

In this way it could be adopted without criticising the legis- 
lature for defeating railroad taxation. 

This convention is entitled to great credit and originality for 
its discovery that the governor at any time ' ' had control of the 
legislative machinery." 

What a revelation these lines of the ]»latform make! They 
tell the whole story. They force the question home to every man 
who reflects: "Was that an old-time democratic convention, fac- 
ing its i)olitical rival, quick to see and point out any mistake, any 
wrong-doing ? ' ' 

For eighteen months the democratic press of the state had 
sounded a ringing note of rebuke to the legislature which had 
failed to keep its jiromises, and when there comes the day and the 
hour for the crystallization of all this criticism in a political plat- 
form, proclaiming from the housetop that broken pledge, the bad 
faith of that legislature — then, then, when the democratic ear is 
strained to catch the party slogan, this Milwaukee convention for 
«ome peculiar reason is as silent as the house of the dead. 

What iloes it mean.' What is its real significance? This 
omission, this silence, "cries trumpet-tongued to heaven" for ex- 
j.lanation. Here was an opportunity that would not occur again 
in the average lifetime of a democrat, for— disciplined as it has 
been by that experience— the republican party of Wisconsin will 
never again break its platform promises. Here was a chance such 
as would have oi)ened the eyes of a democrat, dead in his grave. 
And yet not a word, not a whisper about it, in all the platform 
derhirations of tiiat convention. That speaking silence which con- 



Reactionary Polk y of Democrats 213 

1 

fesses, wliieli jiroclaiiiis to all the world, that the euntiolling force 
ill the convention was in full nieml^ership and sympathy with the 
legislative action defeating railroad taxation, will, before this 
campaign is over, open the eyes of every living democrat in the 
state. 

This question will force itself upon every member of that 
party; it will come demanding an answer every time he remembers 
the defeat of the railroad taxation bills, which that silence plainly 
approves: Was that a real old-fashioned democratic convention, 
or was it a cori)oration convention for defaming the character of 
men who will not bend and cannot be broken by all the mighty 
power it represented ? Democrats will remeni])er that there were 
many honored members of their party in that convention, but they 
will not forget that those democrats did not write its platforms 
nor control in nominating its ticket. 

LaFollette's implied prophecy was vindicated by the 
results of the campaign. Many liigh-minded democratic 
leaders refused to endorse the platfoi-m or take the field. 
'In the course of the campaign the republican state cen- 
tral committee issued a circular at the head of which 
was printed the names of J. L. O'Connor, Louis G. 
Bomrich, P. H. Martin, A. J. Schmitz, F. Wm. Cotz- 
hausen, W. H. Rogers, and asking, "Why Are These Big 
Guns of Democracy Silent in This Campaign? The 
Answer Suggests Itself."* 

Rose made a vigorous canvass and employed for the 
purpose a special train which came to be appropriately 
known as the '' Whoop-la-Special." He was warmly 
received by the stalwarts and at many places where he 
spoke he was presented with bouquets of roses, with the 
statement that each rose represented some republican in 
the place who had come over to his support. It is said 
that on such occasions, the candidate, through a pre- 
arranged signal, would take a drink of water, make two 
taps with the glass, whereupon some young lady would 
step forward with the bouquet. 

It is interesting to here note Bryan's further attitude 
toward Wisconsin in this campaign. Not only was he 



214 LaFoIXETTF. 's WiNNINO OF WISCONSIN 

prompt and unsparing in his denunciation of the demo- 
cratic platform adopted, but he refused absolutely to 
enter the state lest such action might be misinterpreted 
as giving some semblance of sanction to it. Governor 
LnFollette himself made public this interesting fact 
some years later in a speech, saying : 

I hnjiitcnptl to he out at Lincoln, Nel)., attending a Chautauqua 
mcctint; anil while in my room at the hotel a knock came at my 
door. I iliil not even know that Bryan was in Lincoln at that time 
— he is traveling around the country most of the time. I said 
"Come in" and William Jennings Bryan walked into my room. 
Ho stayed about five minutes, but he stayed long enough to say 
to mo at tliat time: " LaFollette, you have got a big fight on; 
you are doing the best work in Wisconsin that is being done any- 
where in this country for jiojuilar government. You are doing 
the tH?8t thing in Wisconsin that is being done anywhere against 
the great evil, and you are losing a j>art of the republican support 
that you ought to have. I believe that that movement is worth 
»o much to the people of this country that I want you to get all 
tho support that you can get out of the democratic party, and I 
shall not cross tho line of Wisconsin to make a political speech in 
that state to solidify the democratic party against you. More 
than that I will give you supjiort for those movements and for 
thow important pieces of legislation." And he did. I say to you 
tonight that William Jennings Bryan never came into Wisconsin 
in 1!»U2 to make a political speech in that campaign, and he did 
not come into Wisconsin in 1904 to make a jiolitical speech, al- 
though this was a i>resi<lential year, for the reason that he wanted 
the democrats of this state to help us in that great movement. I 
tell you, my friends, tho man who is as much bigger than his 
party, u.m this indicates Bryan is, is something more than a poli- 
tician; ho is a patriot; he is a great leader; he stands out here 
(itt'ing clearly this grout evil. 

Perhaps nothing in the whole eour.se of Bryan's career 
has more markedly .stamped the bigness of the man, his 
patriotism and sincerity, than this refusal to lend the 
Hlightest semblance of aid to the discrediting of LaFol- 
lette and his work, for here was no blare of trumpets over 
the taking of a position, no advertising, but the sacrifice 
(.f silentM'. it.sclf susceptible of disadvantageous miscon- 



Reacho.xaky Policy of Dkmuckais 215 

struction. Historical completeness demands a still fur- 
ther observation and digression. Bryan later did more 
than present a mere neutral arm toward the Wisconsin 
cause. When in the legislative session of 1905 the rail- 
road commission bill was hanging in the balance he 
chanced to be on a lecturing tour in Wisconsin. One 
day a telephone call for the governor came into the ex- 
ecutive office. 

"This is Bryan," said tlie voice at the other end. "how 
are you getting on with your legislation ? ' ' 

"The best railroad bill in the country is in danger of 
defeat," replied LaFollette. 

"Can I be of any service to you?" asked Bryan. 

"You can be of the greatest service if you can come 
down here and line up the democratic members for it,", 
answered LaFollette. 

"Well, I shall be in Milwaukee tomorrow morning 
and shall be glad to come over to iMadison and speak to 
the members of the legislature for it," said Bryan. 

The next day a joint meeting of the two houses of the 
legislature was held and Bryan made a powerful plea 
to all members to rise above party and faction for the 
common good by the enactment of progressive legisla- 
tion, saying : 

I believe that the liest thing for every demoerat to do is to 
advocate what he believes to be right whether he advocates it alone 
or in company with tliose of another political party. And I be- 
lieve it is good for the republicans to act ujjon the same principle. 
I have no patience whatever witli the short-sighted partisan policy, 
that if you can 't get a thing through your party you must keep 
the country from getting it until your party gives it. The best 
evidence a man can give of his sincerity is to help secure a thing 
when somebody else will get the benefit or the credit for it instead 
of himself or his party, and I don 't believe that any man can hurt 
his party permanently liy putting the good of his country above 
the good of his party as it may appear from time to time. I am 
glad, therefore, that your governor has taken the position that he 
has on the questions that are now dividing the country. 



210 LaFollette's Winxino ok Wisconsin 

Fur tin* subse(jueiit passajri' of llu- railway commission 
bill and tlif n'hal)ilitat»'(l puhlit- service in Wisconsin a 
.share of credit is tli.'r.'for.' diif the great Nebraska 
patriot. 

The eampaitrn which ci(>s<-(l on tiie night of November 
4 that year was one of the sliarpest and most spectacular 
in the history of the state. In some respects it was un- 
paralleled. Many of the giants of all parties and fac- 
tions were drawn into the contest. Governor LaFollette. 
Mayor lutse. Senator Spooner. former Senator Vilas and 
.N'eal Brown were among the stars of the hustings. The 
political mei'tings were marked by many dramatic inei- 
dent.s and much asking of questions on the part of the 
voters. 

. Whih* nominally a contest between the republican and 
democratic parties it was more than that. It was a 
contest between the people ami the corporations. This 
fact was exemplified not only in the progressive repub- 
lican and the reactionary democratic platforms, but in 
the Icadiui: candidates themselves. LaFollette, the un- 
lh-»gging crusader against privilege, and Kose. the friend 
and servant of the great pul»]ic sei-vice cfu-porations of 
Milwaukee. 

The democratic nuu-hincry having been taken over 
completely by the great corporate interests opposed to 
reform, the friends and beneficiaries of privilege of all 
parties aceorilingly sought the democratic camji for 
solace ami companionship, while thousands of justice- 
loving (h'mocrats secretly prepared to vote a party re- 
buke. Independence in jiolities not being as fashionable 
then as now. the uniiiuc spectacle was i)reseiite(l of nu- 
merous nuMi on both sides contributing to their pai-ty 
campaign funds to save the appearance of regularity. 
and then taking the field with long knives against their 
own party tickets. 



Rea( TioNAKY Polk Y of Democuats 217 

The demand for speeches by the governor in the sum- 
mer of 1902 was somethhir? enormous. For instance, 
he had over 300 invitations for a Fourth of July address. 
He finally accepted one from his old home nelglibors and 
spoke at a celebration held on top of Blue Mounds, in 
southwestern Dane county. 

In this stirring campaign Governor LaFollette made 
fifty-five speeches, opening at the West Side Turn hall in 
Milwaukee September 30 and resuming for the renuiinder 
of the campaign on October 7. Sometimes he made five 
speeches a day, and the first two days he was out he 
drove seventy miles overland. / Remembering his illnessi 
of the previous year, his friends were greatly concerned 
over the state of his health and actually feared that he 
would not be able to conclude his opening speech at Mil- 
waukee, but he was in better condition than they sus- 
pected. He had spent many weeks at health resorts 
and in visiting relatives and had thus built up his 
strength. As in his brief round of the fall before, Mrs. 
LaFollette accompanied him throughout this campaign, 
keeping close watch of his health. Throughout the en- 
tire campaign he completely ignored his opponent, 
Rose, never once mentioning him. The latter had sought 
at various times to draw the governor's fire and an- 
nounced that he wanted a joint debate with LaFollette 
on the question of the Milwaukee franchises, but re- 
ceived no notice. Rose, on the other hand, made a 
vicious campaign of personalities and accusations. 

These opposing candidates themselves furnished a pic- 
turesque element of the campaign in the contrasts they 
afforded. LaFollette was small of stature, while Rose 
had a physique of remarkable i)roportions. He was not 
only a giant, but a handsome one, and in the flower of 
physical strength and perfection. He presented a most 
commanding and impressive appearance, both on the 
platform and in meeting with men. LaFollette was 



^is LaFom-ktte's Winning of Wisconsin 

still dit'tiiij: whiles needless to say, Rose was not. It was 
said after the campaign that the little fellow who lived 
on bread and milk had knocked out the giant who could 
eat four scjuare meals a day. 

But though King Saul was very tall 

And never king was taller, 

rt was not all to be so tall 

For better kings are smaller. 

For all liis size he was not wise, 
Nor was he long annointed 
Ere people said with shaking head — 
' ' We 're sadly disappointed. ' ' 

When LaFolk'tte opened his campaign with a power- 
ful spt'ft'ii at Milwaukee September 30- — one of the great- 
est he ever made — his opponent had already been in the 
field a month. LaFollette was ill at the time and it was 
a serious question with h's friends if he would be able to 
make the speech, but he succeeded in doing so. In this 
speech, which had been awaited with national interest, he 
took a firm stand for the taxation of corporations as other 
property, warning them not to attempt their threat to 
"take it out of the people." and that the state had the 
.sovereign right of regulation. 
* * # 

In connection with LaFollette 's campaign there were 
many interesting incidents. An amusing one occurred 
at Lancaster shortly after the opening of the campaign. 
Tlie governor was dwelling on the interminable demands 
of the old system of choosing candidates and delegates; 
how town caucuses had to be held to elect delegates to 
the county convention, to elect delegates to the state con- 
vention, to in turn elect delegates to the national con- 
vention, etc.; and how there had to be other caucuses 
to elect delegates to the county convention to nominate 
eandiilates for the county offices, and still other caucuses 



Reactioxakv Policy of Dkmo( kats 219 

to elect delegates to assembly, senatorial and congres- 
sional conventions, and so on, and so on. 

"Now," he shouted dramatically, "If there is any 
man in this audience who has attended all the caucuses 
and conventions in this county this year I wish he 
would stand up so I can see what he looks like." 

To the governor's astonishment a lank individual at 
the rear of the hall unwound himself and rose up, while 
an ill-subdued titter gradually spread over the audience. 
This broke into open hilarity as the governor remarked, 
"Well, my friend, you must have had lots of time on 
your hands." The governor did not know the signifi- 
cance of the mirth of his hearers until after his speech, 
when he learned that the citizen who had shown such 
patriotic interest in local public affairs was one of his 
own game wardens. So much was made of the incident 
by the opposition that to take the wind out of it LaFol- 
lette told the story on himself at many of the meetings 
that followed. 

The persistent charge of the opposition that the inde- 
pendent book companies had contributed $2,000 to the 
republican campaign fund on condition that State Super- 
intendent L. D. Harvey was to be sacrificed by being 
denied a renomination, called for a reply from the gov- 
ernor. The opposition press in both parties harped 
continuously on this subject and in all cartoons this 
alleged deal was suggested. The opportunity for the 
governor to reply came at Minerah Point, October 10, in 
response to a question by a friend, possibly pre-arranged. 
The governor said : 

It would answer the purpose of those wlio yirefer to be silent 
on railroad taxation to confine public attention for the next four 
weeks to the independent book companies or any other subject. 
I had absolutely no knowledge or information, either 
directly or indirectly, that Mr. Kronshage or any other man pro- 
posed to contribute, or had contributed, for campaign expenses any 
money received from an independent book company, or any other 



220 I.aI'oi.lkttk's Winmn«j of Wisconsin 

l»ook coni|iaay, from any copartuership or corporation, either 
(lirootly or through any individual acting for them, or eitlier of 
them. 

Kroni an investigation that I made after tlie charges were 
J.ronght to my attention, I state emphatically that not one dollar 
roceived from any source whatever by any one connected with the 
conduct of the campaign at Madison was received upon any con- 
dition that any individual should be nominated or defeated upon 
the Htate ticket or tiiat any officer should then or thereafter show 
nny favor or consideration to the contributor, or any one else for 
the contributor. Xo such jiroposition was ever made by any one 
or hinted at in any manner. Had any such contribution ever been 
offered, from any source whatever, it would have been promptly 
refused by those who were conducting the campaign. Those are 
tlie facts. 

Followiiifr thi.s plain statement from the governor 
much h'.s.s was made of the charge during the remainder 
• >f the campaign. However. Governor LaFollette's 
denial leil to the declaration from the stump by Neal 
Brown, the democratic philosopher, that the governor's 
profession of ignorance was like unto the course of the 
priest in the holy place, who left the sanctuary so that 
on returning he might not know whence came the gifts 
that iiung on the horns of the altar. 

For the meeting at Elkhorn, the seat of the stalwart 
stronghold (»f Walworth county, October 15, the gov- 
ernor's friends determined to give him a reception to 
show him he had warm friends there as well. Accord- 
ingly, on his arrival, he found a big parade arranged 
for him. This was led by one George Wylie. a popular 
eharaeter TG years old, who rode a horse, both animal 
and rider being gaily decorated. The streets through 
which the parade passed Avere turned into lanes of red, 
white and blue. 

At Fox Lake, a couple of days later. LaFollette per- 
formed the unusual and liighly interesting act of calling 
the local candidate for the legislature to the front with 
him and declaring that such candidate had promised to 
stand by the party platform. The dissati.sf action of the 



Reactioxary Policy of Demockats 221 

Bryan democrats over their party platform here cropped 
out as one Bill Stoddard, a well known character, called 
out in meeting, "I am a Bryan democrat, but you are 
all right." 

At LaCrosse, October 20, LaFollette spoke a good 
word for '"Long" Jones of Waukesha, who was a candi- 
date for re-election but was doomed to be defeated. 
Jones had declared : 

I shall, if re-elected to the state senate, vote for the primary 
election bill and assist by voice and vote, to the best of my ability, 
in carrying out that principle by enacting that bill into law. 

Of this Govern'^'' TjaFollette said at LaCrosse : 
With commendable frankness Jones does not claim that his 
individual feeling has changed as to the principle, but he recog- 
nizes that as a republican candidate he should be in accord with 
the republican platform and represent the majority sentiment of 
his constituency. 

This incident and the warfare in the republican party 
furnished the democrats much matter for pleasantry and 
ridicule. Said Neal Brown at a democratic meeting 
October 27 : 

The republicans are bound to have harmony if they have to 
filght for it. What is the name of that man out here where they 
drink water, I forget ? 

A voice — "Long Jones of Waukesha." 

That's the man. I shall never forget the scene when Long 
Jones and short Bob fell on each others' necks. It reminded me 
of the old adage that a man must eat a peck of dirt in his life- 
time, but I did not think that a man was under the necessity of 
eating the whole peck at one time. 

* * * 

It was inevitable that the Spooner issue should come 
to an actite pass, to a "showdown" as it were, on the 
part of the LaFollette side and this occuri'ed at Apple- 
ton. 

Never was there a sliarper test of LaFollette 's courage 
made and never did it ring truer or more prom|)t tlian 
on this occasion. 



222 LaFoij.kttk's Winning ok Wisconsin 

The g<»vi'rnor liad just concluded his speech and was 
acknowledrring the applause when a local justice of the 
peace, Fred Heiuemau, arose and put this question to 
him : 

(lovernor, in view of the brilliant record made by Senator 
8|)Ooncr, to which you have so eloquently referred, and in view 
of the splendid campaign he is making for the entire state ticket, 
are you in favor of the unconditional re-election of John C. 
Sjiooiier to tlie United States senate? 

"A silence like unto that in one of the tombs of the 
Pharoahs fell upon the assemblage," wrote a corre- 
s|)oiident who was present, "and was broken by llie 
povernor as follows : '" ' 

I will answer you in this way, sir. I am for the success and 
for the principles of the republican party as laid down, and the 
day and the hour that Senator Spooner raises his voice for the 
princijdes of the republican party, as laid down in the state plat- 
form, I will raise ray voice for his re-election to the United States 
aenatc, because I then can do so in conformity with the platform 
of my party. 

This daring and unequivocal reply was followed by 

anotht'r moment of deep silence. The audience lingered, 

and dismay was plainly visible on the faces of many of 

his friends. The tension was broken when one. J. H. 

Ilarbt'ck. stepped to the front and said : 

I propose three cheers for the brave answer our governor has 
Ijivcn to that (juestion. 

The.se were given and the audience broke up. many 
with dire mi.sgivings at this sharpening of the issue be- 
tween these two men. 

From ocean to ocean the incident was taken up in tlie 
press because of the prominence of Spooner in public 
life. It was generally believed that LaFollette would 
lose from 20.000 to 30.000 republican votes as a conse- 
quence and tiiat it probably would mean his defeat. 

Even General Bryant, chairman of the state central 
committee, with the reputation of being the best political 



Reactionaky Policy of Democrats 223 

diagnostician in the state, believed that LaFollette had 
committed a fatal error and closing up his office in Mil- 
waukee he returned to Madison, declaring the campaign 
was as good as over and LaFollette defeated./ Not ac- 
customed to looking outside of party lines for support, 
he could not see that thousands of Bryan democrats, 
mutinous over the reactionary platform of their party, 
were preparing to come over to the support of the fear- 
less champion of popular rights. Many whose inst.ncts 
were rather toward manipulation could not see the 
psychological effect of a strong stroke and appeal. Gov- 
ernor LaFollette intuitively saw this and like a political 
fatalist unknown to fear, as it were, went serenely on 
with his campaign confident of ultimate success. 

This Appleton action was, however, nothing remark- 
able in LaFollette for in the more precarious year of 
1904 he said in his speech at LaCrosse that the stalwarts 
could do him no greater service than voting against him. 

The meeting at Oshkosh, Senator Sawyer's old home, 
held October 29, was a notable local affair, presided over 
by Attorney General E. R. Hicks, who two years later 
was to be found fighting LaFollette. Hundreds of people 
were unable to gain admission to the hall. The asperities 
of political warfare were softened on this occasion by a 
song, the tribute of a local genius, one stanza of which 
ran : 

Vote right, vote right, my boys, our cause is just and grand; 
We're hoping many glorious things for this, our native land. 
Wisconsin 's son, Wisconsin 's pride, tonight we all are for ; 
The leader in the people 's cause is our .brave governor. 

The governor spoke from a roped platform on which 
various local events had recently been held, and started a 
laugh by a reference to "missing the rope" as at one 
time he nearly fell over it. At Manitowoc the following 
night he declared : ' ' The eyes of the United States to- 
night are on Wisconsin. It is not a question as to who 
shall win, but the question that the people of the whole 



LaFoixettk's WixNiNf; of Wisconsin 

cuuiiliy art' awaitiii;! the solution of is, whether the 
corporations or tlie i)eople here in Wisconsin, where the 
issue is scjuarely joined, are to rule." 

At Green Bay the crowd arose and sang "America," 
to a brass band accompaniment, which gave a cue for 
an appeal by the governor to consider public questions 
on the heights above partisan i)oi;ties as "suggested by 
that grand old melody." Some feeling had been occa- 
sioned at this place by the absolute refusal of Senator 
Ilagcnieister to rent the Park Pavilion, the largest hall 
ill the city, for this meeting. Tie had previously let it 
\'i>v A SpoiiHcr meeting. 

The meeting at Marshfield. October oO. was likewise 
remarkable, an incident of Avhich was an incipient fire 
in the hotel where the governor had gone to snatch an 
lioui"'s sleep before speaking and through the excitement 
of which he was not awakened. The governor was wel- 
comed with martial music and the town brilliantly 
illuminated for the occasion at the order of former 
(lovernor I'liham, head of the electric light company. A 
special train came from Greenwood with over a hundred 
voters and a brass band. The armory where the gov- 
ernor spoke was filled long before the hour and an over- 
flow meeting was held at the city hall, addressed by John 
.1. Ilannan of Milwaukee. This hall also soon overflowed 
and rivaled tli.- enthusiasm of the armory when the 
governor later appeared to speak for fifteen minutes. 
The meetings were marked by many interruptions of 
enthusiasm. "Mark your tickets," Rhouted the governor. 
"That's what we are going to do," came back the ring- 
ing response. Dave Rose, the democratic candidate for 
governor, in a i)revious speech had urged the people to 
Hsk IjaFollette questions, with a view to embarrassing 
him. and this was attempted by an individual at this 
meeting; but when the tall city marshal arose from his 
place in the front seat and glared monacinglv across the 



Reactionary Policy of Democrats 225 

hall at the offender the latter subsided. Agam toward 
the close of the governor's address this individual at- 
tempted to interrupt, whereupon the marshal onee more 
arose from his seat and glared with the same subsiding 
effect, recalling the immortal batsman in the line, "one 
scornful look from Casey and the audience was awed." 
Such were some of the incidents of an interesting eve- 
ning. 

In the midst of all these crowding events, the governor 
yet found time for cultivating the amenities of life and to 
pay an unheralded visit to his birthplace and old farm 
home in the town of Primrose, Dane county. As a 
relief from tales of campaign and intrigue an account 
of this outing, taken in the month of October, may be here 
reproduced. Under the caption, "With Governor La- 
Follette to Old Primrose, in Fancy, ' ' one of the Madison 
newspapers of the time contained the following sketch : 

With Governor LaFollette to Old Primrose, in Fancy. 

Governor LaFollette returned to Madison a new man Thursday 
night after liis visit to the old LaFollette stamping ground at 
Primrose where he first saw the light of day in a little log cabin, 
June 14, 1855. While but a day was spent on the dear familiar 
ground it was a full day and the most perfect in all the year so 
far. Tliere is no place this side of Italy where the sun shines 
mellower than over old Primrose, as the governor felt, and what 
so suited to a day of reminiscence as a bright autumnal sky! 
And it was a day rich in surging memories. The executive stood 
again in hallowed places where in hardy pioneer days his parents 
and uncles had toiled and suffered. The LaFollettes were numer- 
ous, a kindly, sober religious family, revered by their neighbors 
for their honor, their hospitality and their deeds of kindness in 
hours of need. 

The company that went on the pilgrimage was notable also, not 
alone from the fact that it included the governor of the state and 
a judge of the circuit court, but, and chiefly, because there was 
present one of the pioneer mothers of Primrose, Mrs. Harvey La- 
Follette of Indiana, a tall, beautiful, gracious woman, widow of 
one of the LaFollette brothers who came to the town in the days 
of its first settlement. She had not seen the old Dane county home 
15 



226 LaFou.kttk'.s Winning of Wisconsin 

in tliirty .seven years and it was primarily for her sake that the 
trip was taken. The party included the families of Governor La- 
FoUette and Judge Siebecker, Mrs. Harvey LaFollette and her 
daughter, Mrs. Clara LaFollette-Nash of the state of Oregon, and 
Charles S. LaFollette of Chicago, cousin of the governor, and his 
wife. They took the 7 o'clock morning train to Belleville over 
the Illinois Central road and thence drove to the old homestead, 
a distance of six miles. It was counted exceedingly good fortune 
that the linest day in the year was struck for the outing. Madison 
was reached at 9:15 in the evening, so that the whole day was 
given to pleasure. 



The road lay through the rich farming land of Montrose, through 
the village of Jamestown, containing a blacksmith shop and an 
orchard, and on past cheese factories into Primrose. The baronial 
home of Uncle Eli Pederson, state treasury agent, was seen, sit- 
uated on the summit of a high hill on a farm of 400 acres, one of 
the richest in Primrose, and the governor pointed out objects of 
interest here and there. To the northward, but scarce visible, 
stood Devil 's Chimney, a towering shaft of sandstone, 90 feet 
high, a monument to the forces of erosion that in countless ages 
past scooped out the valley in which it stands. On the way the 
old Ilanna stone schoolhouse was passed. Here the governor re- 
called that he hail often come for the weekly mail and here he had 
also been in great demand on every spelling school occasion, not 
l>articularly as a champion speller — although he is said to have 
wiin a contest in orthography there — but chiefly because of his 
ability to declaim a popular heroic poem entitled "The Polish 
Hoy." Near l)y was the old Harvey LaFollette home which was 
next visited. Here the pioneer mother who had presided over it 
forty years before led the way to the old spring and filled again 
a cooling bottle as a memorial of the visit. Henceforward the 
road was uj) one steep hill and down another. Grapevines grew 
in j.rofusion along the old rail fences and there were ai)i)arontly 
the samp groves of crab apjdes and wild plums. The governor 
could not forbear jumping out of the vehicle to gather some plums; 
ho was a boy again. He and his sister and aunt recalled the old 
Eliphalet ("Life") Thomas place, familiar to the LaFollette 
children as the homo of a dear friend of the family. The path 
of the great tornado of '78 was also noticed. This disaster oc- 
curred tlio year before the governor was graduated from the uni- 
vt'rsity and seven j-eople were killed, two in Primrose. As the 
party came over the crest of the final hill there lay the dear old 



Reactionary Policy of Democrats 227 

valley, almost unchanged, with the old Postville' road, once an 
Indian trail from the lead mines, and the path of many a farmer 's 
boy later who had to drive sheep over it to Postville. Directly in 
front where the roads join stood the first house in Primrose, built 
by Eobert Spears in 1844, and across the way from' it they saw 
the old barn, the first frame building in the town, a leaning ruin 
eloquent in memories of the past. The old spring which deter- 
mined the location of the cabin still babbled across the road 
though not with its one-time vigor. The spring is the source of a 
small stream that flows out of the yard and across the road. It 
has never been bridged and farmers for a generation or more 
have been wont to stop and water their teams in it and slake their 
own thirst. It is related with pride by the people roundabout that 
the renowned violinist, Ole Bull, once stopped to drink there while 
on his way to visit the Norwegian settlement in Perry. Less than 
a dozen steps brought the reverent visitors to the old frame school- 
house, unchanged after all the years, where the governor and Mrs. 
Siebecker had attended as toddlers, and then but another step 
down the road there broke on their view the old dear homestead 
with its flood of sacred associations. 



The little valley, with its steep, narrow hillsides that once shut 
in the ambitions that now compass the entire state, looked greener 
than it has in a score of years past and was not unlike that which 
the future governor trod in barefoot days. The searching feet of 
change have not often found their way up its narrow, crooked 
roads and the rainy season this year had produced as lusty a crop 
of burdocks, hemp and mullein as flourished in the old days in the 
pigpen and calf pasture on the flat beside the little trickling 
stream. But as the governor cast his eyes up the western hillside 
back of the old home, he missed the groves of wild crab apples 
and wild plums which were such a delight in his boyhood. The 
old trees were gone, but other similar clumps were noticed else- 
where, so he was not entirely unconsoled at their loss. 

Christ England, the Norwegian who now owns the celebrated 
farm, had not been notified of the coming of his distinguished 
guests and so was greatly astonislied when the carriages drove up 
and the genial governor, who never forgets a name or a face, 
waved his hand and called out familiarly: 

"Hello! Chris, liow are you, old boy?" 

The happy executive who had left far behind tlie vexing cares 
of politics and state to step once more on liis native heath, bounded 
out of the vehicle and gave the farmer such a handgrip as the lat- 



2'Js 



LaFollette's Winning of Wisconsin 



ter Imd not felt since he last called on Bob in Madison. Gradually 
speech returned to the astonished farmer and when the nature of 
the visit was made known he welcomed the party and said he 
would kill the fatted calf in a trice if they could wait a few 
minutes. The fatted calf in this instance was, so to speak, a 
number of wild-eyed turkeys that were picking their stilted way 
through the smartweed near at hand. But while the governor 
doubtless felt some of the twinges of the returning prodigal he 
waved his friend off, saying he would not for the world put him 
to any trouble; that they had brought their own lunch and that 
they would eat it under the shadow of the old elder bushes beside 
the calf pasture. The ladies might go in the house for a visit if 
they cared, whUe the men folks would look over the place a little. 
The governor inquired eagerly for the old log cabin, now gone, 
the old barn, part of which was still standing, the condition of 
the crops, etc., and noted some minor changes that had occurred. 

After inquiring about the neigh])ors the governor pushed aside 
the weeds and grass to take a look at the little stream that flowed 
past the old cabin door, but found that the dry seasons of recent 
years had swallowed it up. Kegretfully he walked over to what 
remained of the old frame house that was annexed- to his cabin 
homo and recalled many incidents of mischievous childhood. Here 
he had made cider and applejack, here brought home great bags 
of crab apples, walnuts and hazelnuts, and here grown watermelons 
— Oh! how sweet and cool — and sunflowers and morning glories. 
He rejoiced that the day should be one of almost supernal beauty. 
It was as if heaven smiled upon his visit to the old haunts and 
had sent the dispensation of old-time mellow sunshine, which more 
than anything else recalled his happy, innocent days of early life. 
Mrs. Siebecker smiled at the many incidents recalled and added 
her quota of girlhood pioneer experiences, while the venerable 
aunt told of quilting parties and husking bees, as well as many 
sterner memories. 

It was u great day for "Bob," Jr., and little Phil. They romped 
after the calves, clambered over impossible fences, got lost in the 
tall grass and ate everything green in sight. The governor laughed 
heartily at their fun and the venerable grand aunt saw in them 
the Bob of two score years back, wliile the first lady in the state 
ruined a gown trying to keep up with the little rovers through the 
nettles and underbrush. The exercise, she admitted, beat Emily 
Bishop dolsarte all liollow and as she caught up all rosy and half 
out of breath with her daughter a farmer on his way to the Mt. 
Vernon mill cast a sly, mischievous glance at them as he lounged 
in his seat and called out familiarly: "Hello! girls!" 



Reactionary Pomcy of Democrats 229 

The lunch was a great success; farm day appetites lent the 
keenest relish, and jollity unbounded prevailed. A visit was made 
to the schoolhouse and the spring and the stroll continued up the 
road. 

After all the returning children had steeped their niinda in the 
merry and melancholy memories called up by the visit a reluctant 
adieu of the old place was taken and the carriages turned east- 
ward on the return trip. 

* * * 

At the close of the campaign Governor LaFollette 
spoke to a great audience of six thousand people at the 
Exposition building in Milwaukee on the night of No- 
vember 1. It was an enthusiastic audience, good-hu- 
mored, and in sympathy with him. In discussing pri- 
mary elections, the governor said, "Close up your saloons 
as you do on election day. ' ' This remark started a wave 
of laughter. 

"I guess you don't know where you are at. Bob," said 
a friend. The governor saw the point and smiled: ''I 
have never been in Milwaukee on election day," he said. 

On returning to Madison, November 5, Governor and 
Mrs. LaFollette drove from the station to the voting 
booth in the fourth ward where they lived, and both 
voted. The law had been changed to permit women to 
vote in the election of state and county school superin- 
tendents and Mrs. LaFollette was the first woman to vote 
in her ward. 

LaFollette and Rose were to have similar experiences 
with their home constituencies. LaFollette 's previous 
vote in Dane county of 4,000 plurality was cut to 800 and 
he also lost the city of IMadison by 116, having carried 
it in 1900 by 900 votes. It was an eloquent demonstra- 
tion of the stalwart defection. Rose also lost both the 
city and county of Milwaukee. 

While the stalwarts bolted the ticket by tens of thou- 
sands at the November election LaFollette was neverthe- 
less returned by a plurality of 47,599, the vote being La- 



2:<0 LaFollkttk 's Winning of Wisconsin 

Fdllftti'. n-pubjican, 193,417; Rose, democrat, 145,818; 
Emil Seidol, socialist, 15,970; E. W. Drake, prohibition- 
ist. 9.647 ; II. E. D. Peck, social labor, 791. 

The slump in the total vote in this election from that 
(if 1 !•()() was about 75,000. The democratic loss was about 
15.000. the republican about 70,000. The socialist vote 
was increased about 10,000, presumably drawn equally 
from the republicans and the democrats. The larger 
I)art of tliis stay-at-home vote, it is safe to say, was repub- 
lican. However, it is a safe presumption also, in view 
of the activities of the stalwart league, that thousands of 
republicans voted the democratic ticket. The fact that 
the democratic ticket, in sjjjte of this republican sup]>ort, 
sutTered a loss of 15,000 votes would indicate a substantial 
democratic defection to LaFollette. In fact, it has been 
estimated that the number of democrats who came over 
to LaFollette in this election was 30.000. 

The advent of LaFollette was to prove disruptive of 
practically all political parties in Wisconsin. Previous 
to his time the antagonisms were chiefly between the old 
parties and on national lines alone. Since then such 
animosities have ])een rather retrospective and fanciful 
and those entertaining them rightly classed as old-fash- 
ioned, wliafever their party. Especially in the republican 
party has the factional division been pronounced, ex- 
tending into business and professional life, even to this 
day. The kindling of insurrection in his own party 
mi<:ht naturally be expected to redound to the advantage 
f>f the o|)posing democratic party, but such was not to 
prove true. As Napoleon disarmed a possible menace by 
keepiu'^^ the (Jerman states divided against one another, 
so LaFolh-tte put the democratic party of Wisconsin 
hors de combat for years by diverting a large element 
of it to his standard. It was never a serious menace to 
him. 



CHAPTER XVI 
Sensational Legislative Session of 1903. 

Three Special Messages of Governor on Railroad Legisla- 
tion — Lenroot Elected Speaker of Assembly — Fight for Pri- 
mary Elections Renewed — Congressman Babcock Comes to 
Direct Stalwart Forces — Governor Vetoes Hagemeister Bill 
With Stinging Message — Primary Bill With Referendum 
Feature Finally Passed — Stalwart Plan to Defeat It at 
Polls — Railroad Ad Valorem Bill Passed. 

W ITH three special messages from Governor LaFol- 
lette oil railroad issues, and desperate struggles over the 
primary election, ad valorem taxation and railway com- 
mission bills, the legislative session of 1903 was probably 
unparalleled in excitement in the state's history. Sensa- 
tions were the order of the day throughout almost the 
entire session. 

The temper of the people over the betrayal of pledges 
by the previous legislature was shown in the fact that 
the assembly of 1903 presented seventy new faces. The 
republicans numbered 76, the democrats 24, the admin- 
istration having a slight majority ever the combined 
democratic and stalwart vote. Among the prominent 
republicans of the previous session who failed to return 
were Albert R. Hall of Dunn county, Philo A. Orton of 
Lafayette county, Henry Overbeck of Sturgeon Bay, L. 
M. Sturdevant of Neillsville, later attorney general ; and 
George P. Rossman of Ashland. Among those returned 
were Speaker George H. Ray of LaCrosse, A. H. Dahl 
of Vernon county, later state treasurer ; Henry Johnson 
of Oconto county, also later state treasurer ; W. W. 
Andrew and I. L. Lenroot of Superior, Roderick C. 
Ainsworth of Waukesha, David Evans, Jr., of Waukesha. 
Frank A. Cady of Marshfield, E. W. LeRoy of Marinette 



2;(2 LaFollette's \S'inmno ok Wisconsin 

aiiti .M. -1. WalliK'h oi" Shawano. New members who 
were to rise to prominence included among others George 
E. Beedle of Waupaca, later commissioner of insurance ; 
John S. Donald of Dane, later state senator and secretary 
of state ; Herman L. Ekern of Trempealeau, later speaker 
and commissioner of insurance, and James A, Frear of 
Hudson, later state senator, secretary of state and mem- 
ber of congress. On the whole the assembly presented a 
dear-eyed, genuine-looking group of men, apparently 
full (if hopeful determination to legislate in the common 
interests. Speaking of this body the State Journal said : 

There was an absence of those boisterous greetings from red- 
faced f)oliticians and ' ' Hello, Charlie, where the h — 1 did you come 
from?" that marked legislative meetings in the old days. 

Next to A. R. Hall, perhaps, the most conspicuous 
member of the assembly who failed to return was Philo 
A. Orton of Lafayette county. Orton \Vas one of the 
giants of the assemblies of 1899 and 1901. Deeply versed 
in the law and with a rare facility and readiness in de- 
bate, but with a certain archaic point of view, he seemed 
to have come up from the legendary past, a survival of 
the strong man of his section who laid the constitutional 
foundations of the state. 

The case of Orton suggests an observation in passing. 
"While experience, as a rule, brings added usefulness to 
intTi, the reverse is frequently found to be true of legis- 
lators. Few indeed are such men w^ho long remain true 
and disinterested public servants. Only constant vigil- 
ance, firmness and clearness of view will prevent their 
independence and honor from becoming undermined. 
Self-interest, ever tempting to go up into the mountains, 
trifles and associations that compromise, or commit one 
to positions or policies contrary to public interests and 
one's first good resolutions; security, tending to breed 
stagnant conservatism and inclination toward the easy 
course; trading, with its alluring temporary advantages 
—the.se and other causes and circumstances eventually 



Sensational Legislative Session op 190.") 233 

ruin the usefulness of most legislators. Many a mem- 
ber's worth is destroyed in his first term of service. 
Hence, the constant necessity of returning to the soil, so 
to speak, for new material. This was particularly true 
of the legislatures of the LaFollette administrations. 

For instance, only six men sat in the assembly 
through the three legislative sessions of the LaFollette 
administrations, Roderick C. Ainsworth of Waukesha, 
W, W. Andrew of Superior, A, H, Dahl of Vernon 
county, Henry Johnson of Oconto county, Fred Hartung 
of Milwaukee and I, L. Lenroot of Superior, Through- 
out all these sessions, by the way, Ainsworth 's name was 
first in all roll calls and this old Roman met the high 
responsibility of being the first to take a position upon 
measures and issues with unfailing courage and patriot- 
ism. "With him it was no case of waiting ''for Hugo to 
vote first." 

It may be here furthpr observed, however, that the 
legislatures of the LaFollette period were remarkable for 
the strong men they brought out. Like other wars, the 
conflicts of the time rapidly made men out of boys. Thus 
observers of the period may remember, for instance, 
when the youthful Herman L. Ekern left the speaker's 
chair to take the floor and in a stirring speech remind 
the members of the flag under which they were sitting, 
and how later the boyish-looking John J, Blaine on his 
first day as state senator boldly moved for an investiga- 
tion of the election expenditures of Isaac Stephenson as 
United States senator. The constant clash of mind on 
mind created an atmosphere of hostility and suspense 
and kept all responsive spirits on the qui vwe. The chal- 
lenge of battle was ever in the air, and every mind was 
on the alert for surprises, for strategy and the seizing 
of occasions. Out of this stress and turmoil many a 
mind came forth sharpened and strengthened for future 
achievement. Hitherto obscure lawvers. countrv mer- 



•_>:!4 l,\K()i.i.KTTF. 's Winning of Wisco'.'sin 

chants and llu^.ln■^^ nu'ii devt'l()])t'd into leaders and 
const nic'tive statcsnien whose names will be written high 
in state iiistory. Tlie embattled farmers of the LaFol- 
lettc reginie were to bring about wholesome changes which 
the preceding regencies of greater culture and respecta- 
bility had refused, or seemed unable to effect. 

A period of comparative complacency has followed. 
with legislatures correspondingly less warlike, but the 
call for sacrifice has been less imperative. The LaFol- 
h'tte episode marked the stressful transition from lobby- 
bossed legislatures, with attorneys of private interests 
framing legislation, to the present practice of employing 
"people's experts" for this work. 

To return to Orton. In the session of 1899 he took 
a strong hand in advancing progressive legislation, as 
shown by his etl^'orts in putting through the bills increas- 
ing the taxes upon tlio state's great insurance corpora- 
tions, lie was then looked u]K)n as oiu' of the coming 
leaders in the reform legislation which shrewd politicians 
saw was imiiending. Then came the campaign of 1900. 
'with its limit ii)licity of gubernatorial candidates, and 
the final coiiii)h'te triumph of LaFollette for the nomina- 
tion. r)rton had liimself had dreams of the governor- 
ship. but his county elected LaFollette delegates to the 
st.nte convention. Orton was returned to the assembly 
and appointed ehainnan of tlie important committee 
on the judiciary, hut disappointed the expectations of 
his former friends l)y reversing his previous course and 
becoming the reactionary leader of the assembly, thus 
almost completely destroying the influence he had ac- 
quired. So comjileteiy was he discredited that although 
ho was chairman of its most important committee, and 
perhaps its al)lest member, the as.sembly took the remark- 
able course of rejecting, as a rule, the measures favorably 
rc[)()rted by tlie committee and advancing measures on 
which the comniittee reported adv('rsel\'. Yet tbe legis- 



Sknsational Legislativk Sesmox of UM).". 235 

la t ion so enacted in the face of the committee on judi- 
ciary stands on the statute boojks today. Naturally 
Orton was not returned to the legislature in 1903. 

Three candidates were brought out for the speaker- 
ship, George H. Ray of La Crosse, who had been speaker 
in the sessions of 1899 and 1901 ; Ira B. Bradford of 
Augusta, and Irvine L. Lenroot of Superior, Avho had 
made such a brilliant record in debate in the previous 
session as to make him a marked man among , his col- 
leagues. The administration forces centering on Len- 
root, he was nominated in the republican caucus and the 
next day elected on motion of Mr. Ray. 

But the administration failed to capture the senate 
although ten of the eighteen new members chosen were 
administration men. The senate line-up was : Stalwart 
republicans, 16 ; stalw^art democratii, 2 ; administration 
republicans, 14; administration democrats, 1. Among 
the strong administration senators retui'ned were H. C. 
Martin, W. H. Hatton, J. II. Stout and J. J. McGillivray, 
while among stalwarts returned wei-e A. M. ("Long") 
Jones, A. L. Kreutzer and Barney A. Eaton. There 
were eleven holdover stalwart seiuitors, all of whom had 
been members of the Republican League. Accordingly 
the stalwarts organized the senate. / 

Again Governor LaFollette appeared in person and 
read his message which was the longest so far in state 
history. In its exhaustive treatment of recommenda- 
tions it was unparalleled. A new war cry in Wisconsin 
politics, the demand for a railway commission to fix and 
regulate rates, was the striking feature of it. In support 
of the demand for a commission, great tables of impres- 
sive statistics — the work of Halford E. Erickson, Walter 
Drew and C. A. Tupper of Milwaukee — were presented 
to show that the people of Wisconsin were paying from 
28 to 40 per cent more in freights for the same length 
of haul than were the people of Iowa and Illinois where 



'SAG LaKoi-lette's Winmnu ok Wisconsin 

there were commissions to regulate rates. The message 
also endorsed the ad valorem tax idea, gave ominous 
warning to the lobby and showed unflinching firmness 
for primary election legislation. It was described by an 
opponent as "vigorous, drastic and alive, studiously con- 
servative in tone, but positive." Even outside of the 
state it occasioned much c(»mment. Its marked states- 
manship was noted and its author was suspected of bid- 
ding for the favorable notice of a larger field than his 
home constituency. Said the Wisconsin State Journal: 
The fact is, Governor LaFollette was talking less to Wiscon- 
nin Thursday than to the nation. He counts himself and the issues 
ho stands for no present day matters, but permanent, abiding. 
The delivery of the adilrcss, the few hundred people before him 
were but an incident. LaFollette was talking to the American 
people; to his generation everywhere. 

The message presaged stormy times ahead were the 
railroads to contest the governor's demands. It was 
pointed out by the governor's opponents that A. R. Hall 
had session after session introduced a railway commis- 
sion bill and time after time had also read tables of rates 
"equidistant from Chicago," without even getting his 
bill through one house, but here was a new and master- 
ful champion of the idea who could command a follow- 
ing whieii Hall could not. Opposition to the governor's 
program included fighting primary elections as w'ell as 
railway legislation, although sftme discerning stalwart 
leaders counseled otherwise. One of them wrote: "With 
publie sentiment behind LaFollette the situation will not 
be what it was two years ago. I should say the legislator 
who took a stand now that 'there is nothing in primary 
elections' would be inviting a return to private life." 

Both sides prepared for a hard struggle. The stal- 
wart press began publisliiug h)ng articles on the opera- 
tion of the railway commissic»n laws in Illinois and Iowa 
to prove their value was small, while the administration 



Sexsatioxal Legislative Session of 1903 237 

organs printed statistics to prove that the people of Wis- 
consin were the victims of discrimination. 

While there were many other significant contests over 
measures of no little importance, the great legislative 
battles of the session were over primarj^ elections, a^ 
valorem taxation of railways and railway rate regula- 
tion. Briefly, some phases of these contests may be 
noticed, beginning with that over the primary election 
bill. 

On January 30 primary election bills much like the 
rejected Stevens bill of the previous session were intro- 
duced by Assemblyman Andrew, chairman of the assem- 
bly committee on privileges and elections, and Assembly- 
man Frear, ranking member of the same committee. 
Three days later, Mondaj^, February 2, a new bill, a sub- 
stitute to 97a (the Stevens bill, by the way, was known 
as 98a) was reported by the committee. Rushed through 
its preliminary stages, it was passed on Friday, by a 
vote of 70 to 19, Assemblyman Frear making the prin- 
cipal speech in favor of the bill, and on Monday, Febru- 
ary 9, a week after its introduction, it was messaged to 
the senate. 

In the meantime Assemblymen Ray and Wallrich had 
sought to obtain delay and nearly a dozen other members 
had presented various exempting and dilatory amend- 
ments, but to no avail. The celerity of action with which 
the bill was passed was described as "characteristic of 
the administration," but the administration took the 
ground that since the whole subject had been thrashed 
over at the previous session there was no need for delay. 

In the senate it was a different story. Owing to the 
requests for delay by stalwart members, it was not to 
come to a vote in that house until March 26. 

This delay was due to a peculiar dilemma in which 
the stalwarts found themselves, and to a lack of strong 
and intelligent leadership. The three big administra- 



•j;ts LaFoulktte's Winning of Wisconsin 

tion measures, tlu; primary election, the railway ad val- 
orem and the railway commission bills, were equally ob- 
jectionable t(. tliem. "but it would not do to kill them all, 
as they would make good issues for LaFollette and bis 
supporters in the next campaign were they turned down. 
This had been demonstrated in the defeat of the Stevens 
bill in tiie last session. Yet were the primary bill to go 
tlirough it wovdd give LaFollette more power and pres- 
tige. There was little choice between the two horns of 
the dilemma. /In their perplexity, the stalwart leaders 
in the legislature finally decided to lay the case before 
the two I'nited States senators at Washington for solu- 
tion. The decision of the leaders at the national capital 
was (hat LaFollette should be fought on other measures, 
hut that the primary bdl should go through with a refer- 
endum feature and that it should be made the issue in 
the next campaign and killed at the polls, if possible, / 
This fact is admitted in an interesting revelation in the 
stalwart history of tlir pci'iod l)y Fj. L. Pliilipj). wliich 
reads : 

In tliis oiiiiTiicin-y ;i iiiossoiifrt'r \v;is sent to "Wnsliiiigton for 
tho purpose of ox|ilaiiiiiiK the situation to the two senators and 
the menibers of the lower liouse, particularly Congressman Bab- 
cock, uiiil get tlieni to agree upon some line of action. Senator 
Qnarles, out of deference to Senator Spooner's seniority, declinetl 
to move without the express sanction of the latter, but he signi- 
fied his willingness to do his full duty in the work of redeeming 
the pnrty in the state from political disruption. Mr. Babcock 
tfMjk tho same position, arguing that it was the senior senator's 
jilnco to either lead the i>arty himself or consent to the selection 
of Home other person to assume the responsibilities as well as the 
InliofH of leadership. There was conference after conference, Sen- 
ator Rpooner's well known distaste for practical politics, together 
with his diHinclination to authori/o another, however able and 
williiif; to lead, to spejik and act for him, making it impossilde for 
dnys to come to nn uuderstaniling. 

Tho final outcome of the conferences, however, was that Mr. 
HnlK-oi-k wn.M delegated to come to Wisconsin and assume the lead- 
ornhip of the stalwart, or con^^.Tvative republicans. One of the 



Sen.satioxal Legislative Session of li»0;; 2.'59 

conditions laid down by Senator Spooner before the arrangements 
were completed was that the primary election bill with a referen- 
dum clause was to be passed by the state senate. It was agreed 
that the two United States senators and the members of congress 
who were not in accord with Governor LaFollette were to take an 
active part in the next campaign for the purpose of defeating the 
bill when it was presented to the people for their endorsement by 
popular vote. 

Having succeeded in the mission that took him to Washing- 
ton, the messenger returned to Wisconsin and reported. He was 
followed in a few days by Mr. Babcock who established himself 
at Madison and undertook to advise the stalwarts in the legislature 
as to the course they should pursue. He assured the stalwart sen- 
ators that they could count on the co-operation of Senators Spooner 
and Quarles, as well as certain congressmen of whom he was one, 
and that an earnest effort would be made to perfect a real organi- 
zation, one that could go into a campaign with a prospect of win- 
ning. 

With this understanding the stalwart members of the state 
senate agreed to carry out the plan proposed by Mr. Babcock, as 
originally outlined by Senator Spooner, although Senator White- 
head and others were not convinced of its wisdom. Mr. Babcock 
assumed the responsibilities of the position assigned to him by 
the other leaders and it was by his direction that the primary 
bill, objectionable as it was to the stalwart state senators, was 
passed practically in its original form with the referendum section 
attached. 

In order to gain time to g-et ont of their quandary, Sen- 
ator Whitehead on March 5 moved that the bill go over 
till March 26. While this was understood to be simply 
a move to gain time, the senate agreed to the postpone- 
ment, but rem.embering that Whitehead had held the 
railway tax bills for two months Avithont action in the 
session of 1901 the members smiled, and Senator North 
.solemnly proposed that the rattlesnake bounty bgll also 
go over to the same date. Others proposed that March 
26 be made a legal holiday, or at least an eight-hour day. 
The assembly also held a sort of mock session in observ- 
ance of the senate action. 

Finally, on March 26, on motion of Senator Whitehead, 
the stalwart majority in the senate, after voting down a 



240 LaKom.ettk's Winning of Wisconsin 

number f>f amendments, concurred in the assembly bill 
with an amendment by Senator Gaveney that the main 
portion of the bill be submitted to a popular vote at the 
election to be held in November, 1904./ This was as far 
as the stalwarts were willinj^ to go. The assembly re- 
jecting the Gaveney amendment, the bill was buffeted 
back and forth, but each house voted to stand firm and 
the measure had to be sent to conference. 

However, the conferees were not able to agree on de- 
tads and day after day went by until it was freely pre- 
dicteil by many that primary legislation was dead for 
the session. But they came together on a proposition 
to submit tile whole primary bill to the voters at the next 
general election and on May 20, three days before ad- 
journment, the senato accepted the amendment and the 
bill went to the governor with the referendum clause. 

Governor LaFollette had wished that the measure 
might have contained a jirovision for second choice vot- 
ing and one limiting the expenditures of candidates. 
Had these provisions been incorporated, the state might 
have been spared the scandal attending the election of 
Senator Stephenson in 1008 and the Wisconsin primary 
law not been subject to the criticism and misconstruction 
it then received in many quarters of the country where 
the conditions surrounding its passage were not known. 
However, the opposition refused to grant either of these 
propositions and Guvornor LaFollette finallv sisrued the 
hill. 

When tlie primary election bill was in process of en- 
actment the stalwart opposition demanded a provision 
for independent candidates after the primary nomina- 
tion.'i might be made. Such provision was incorporated 
in the law and naturally is as much a part of the law- 
ns any other, and its exercise is as legitimate as any 
other. In fact, it broadens the field for the exercise of 
the primary idea, by irivintr the freest democratic expres- 



Sensational Legislative Session of 1903 2-il 

sion in the choice of candidates. Yet when LaFollette 
has himself exercised this freest and legitimate provision 
of the law — so strongly demanded by the opposition — 
he has been denounced by the same opposition interests. 
The very thing which they demanded for "circumvent- 
ing his own law" they have criticized him for employing. 
It is therefore idle and unnecessary to offer any explana- 
tions or apologies for LaFollette 's advocacy of "inde- 
pendents ' ' now and then ; such course has been in accord 
with the very spirit of the primary idea. 

The primary battle of this session may thus be said 
to have been a draw, with a temporary advantage to the 
opposition in that it perpetuated the caucus and con- 
vention system for another campaign and gave the stal- 
warts opportunity for another battle on the issue. 

It was the plan of Senator Spooner and the other 
leaders to make primary elections the big issue of the 
next campaign. It was assumed that LaFollette would 
not again be a candidate for reelection and that if his 
program could be defeated at this session and the pri- 
mary law beaten at the polls in 1904, a quietus would be 
put upon his agitations. It was to prove a bad political 
guess. With the advent of LaFollette as a candidate 
for a third term, the primary election issue was destined 
to be completely overshadowed in the larger general issue 
of "LaFolletteism." 

Dissatisfaction over the amount of taxes paid by the 
railroads under the old license fee system had been of 
long standing in the minds of many people of the state 
and this dissatisfaction had increased through the agita- 
tions of A. R. Hall, Avho ever since his entrance in tlie 
assembly in 1891 had charged the railroads with shirking 
their full responsibility in this respect and had urged an 
increase in their license fees. It was largely because of 
this crusading by Hall that the state tax commission was 
finally created. Up to the time of tlie session of 1903, 

16 



2»L' LaFoij.ettk 's \ViN.\iN(i OF Wisconsin 

however, tlie railmad l<.l)l)y luul succeeded in defeating 
all lep-islatidii lookiiifr toward an increase in railroad tax- 
ation. 

When it was proposed in the le<rislature of 1899 to 
redeem the party pledge to increase the taxes on rail- 
roads and other corporations the lobby succeeded in sub- 
stituting a l)ill to create a permanent tax connnlssion on 
the ground tliat only through such a body could anything 
like a just and proper system of taxation be worked out. 
To the lobby agents, said LaFollette in his message of 
190:}, this measure "presented the relief of postpone- 
ment." Again the railroads escaped in the session of 
1901 by the bold and ruthless slaying of the bills pro- 
posed by the tax commission. 

At the opening of the session of 1903 Governor LaFol- 
lette made a firm demand for ad valorem legislation. In 
unequivocal language he said : 

This is not a question of policy. The railroad companies of 
this state owe the state more than ,$1,000,000 a year. For many 
years, because of the postponement or defeat of legislation requir- 
ing them to pay their proportionate share of the taxes, the other 
taxpayers of Wisconsin have jiaid for them $1,000,000 annually. 
The case has been tried ; the hearing has been full. Judgment 
has been given again and again. Pledges have been made by po- 
litical parties and repeated by candidates for ofBce, over and over 
again. The question is not an open one. There is no opjiortimity 
for misunderstanding. There is no room for speculation. The 
truth is ascertained. The truth is known. It is lodged in the 
public mind to stay. The jteople want $1,000,000 a year because 
it is the sum owing. They are not to be wheedled by any soft 
])hrases about "conservatism." There is nothing to compromise. 
Equal and just taxation is a fundamental principle of republican 
government. The amount due as taxes from railroads and other 
y)ublic service corporations should be paid, and paid in full, and 
I am confident that legislation to secure that payment will be 
prom])tly enacted. 

On January 26, soon after the opening of this session, 
the tax commission ]n-esented an elaborate report in 
wliieli that body also reoonnnended the adoption of the 



Sensational Lecjislativk Session of :190;5 2'4;] 

ad valorem system, after an exhaustive review of the 
situation with reference to the railroads. The sugges- 
tion was made by the commission that the license fee 
system be retained for several years, but that the ad 
valorem basis should govern whether the amount of com- 
puted taxes went above or below the license fees. Bills 
to this end were prepared by the tax commission and 
committees on taxation/but before they were introduced 
notices of a hearing were sent the presidents of all the 
railroads operating in the state with a request that they 
and their attorneys attend in person and present their 
objections, if any they had, to the proposed change. 

Such officials duly appeared at the hearing and in- 
sisted that the railroads were already paying more taxes 
than other forms of property and that the ad valorem 
sj^stem as tried in other states had proved unsatisfactory 
to both the railroads and the states. Later, the attor- 
neys of the roads presented their briefs and the extraor- 
dinary arrogance and audacity of the lobby of the 
time was strikingly illustrated in the brief of George R. 
Peck, chief counsel of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul 
road. /a. large portion of this remarkable paper was 
devoted to hostile animadversions u])on the governor and 
the tax commission. Thus in a referpnce to the governor, 
he said : 

So far as I have read the literature of tliis subject— T mean 
the Wisconsin literature — only one person in official life has as- 
serted or assumed that ultimate wisdom rests onlv in his own abso- 
lute and unerring knowledge. 

This attack produced a sensation in the state press 
and, needless to say, did not aid the cause of the rail- 
roads. 

On February 13, ad valorem bills, as prepared, in the 
main, by the tax commission, Avere iiitroduced in both 
houses of the legislature by the committees on taxation. 

The bills of the two houses differed in some respects, 
the assembly measure providing, for instance, that the 



1..\Foli>ettk\s Winning of Wisconsin 

ad \alorem system go into effect in 1903, while the senate 
bill postponed the operation for a year. The senate 
hill also provided for the exemption of railroad bonds 
from taxation, while the house measure had no such pro- 
vision. The tax commission was divided on the latter 
proposition, N. P. Haugen, a member of the commission, 
standing out against such exemption on the grounds 
that credits were property, that in no other state were 
tliey exempted and that such exemptions would be a step 
without precedent. 

The senate bill was never to emerge from committee 
until withdrawn, weeks afterward, by unanimous con- 
sent; but /the assembly bill was passed unanimously 
.March 6 and messaged to the senate. Here the bill was 
amended so as to exempt railroad bonds and to postpone 
the operation of the law for a year./ This change pro- 
duced a long deadlock in conference. 

In the meantime the ad valorem issue liad become 
overshadowed by the great fight over the railway com- 
mission bill which had been introduced in the assembly 
the same day the ad valorem bill was passed, March 6. 

But distasteful as both measures were to the railroads, 
it was felt even by the supporters of the railroads in the 
legislature that some legislation on the subject of taxa- 
tion Mas imperative. Governor LaFollette was thunder- 
ing for action, as was a large portion of the state press. 

The tax commission having recommended the ad val- 
orem system, the stalwart leaders felt that the ad valorem 
bill could not be so safely slaughtered as the railway 
commission bill urged by the governor. But the railroad 
nuiiuigers saw more than this. To them it appeared both 
pood politics and good policy to accept the ad valorem 
measure if the rate commission bill could be killed. 

Accordingly the rate commission bill was brought for- 
ward and indefinitely postponed and the senate then 
permitted the ad valorem bill to go through as a conces- 



Sensational Legislative Session oe U»o.'. 



134.3 



sion to a popular demand that could no longer be resisted,, 
it being charged at the time that a railroad attorney so 
advised, and that he added, significantly, that with the 
commission bill beaten the railroads could get the in- 
creased taxes back by simply raising their rates. In the 
meantime the conferees had made mutual concessions, 
the senate members finally withdrawing their demand 
for the exemption of railroad bonds, and the assembly 
members consenting to postpone the application of the 
ad valorem system for a year. 

Thus the railroads who had so long cleverly prevented 
an increase in their taxes escaped for another year, and 
likewise the state was again beaten out of what the ad- 
ministration insisted was its just dues. 




Mrs. LaFoUette Speaking 



CHAPTER XVII 
Railroad Commission Bill. 
Becomes New Issie — Last Big Legislative Battle of La- 

FOLLETTE UeGIME — SPIRITED COMMITTEE HEARINGS — GOVERNOR 

SiBMiTs Long Special Message — Great Gathering of Shippers 
Appears in Protest — Brilliant Night Debate — Measure 
Killed — Railroad •'Red Line" 4nciden"t — Great Power of 
Lobby Shown. 

IN KXT ill interest in this session to the battle over the 
l>riiiiary ch-ction bill^if indeed not exceedino: this striig- 
li\v in intensity and si<rnificance^was the contest over 
the railway eoniniission bill. If not the greatest, it was 
the last and most fiercely contested of the big legislative 
battles of the LaFollette regime and was replete witii 
dramatic features./ The battle was fought out wholly in 
the assembly, ihe iiu-asure never coming before the 
srnatf. / 

If was LaFollette's masterly move in ])ressing this 
new issue that made practically untenable the position of 
tlie stalwarts on the primary election and ad valorem 
measures. It upset all their previous calculations, called 
for new alignments, and iiromised a new issue, to meet 
wiiieh it wouhl be necessary to abandon everything else. 

In line with the recommendations of Governor LaFol- 
lette's message, the assembly committee on railroads on 
March <; introduced a bill creating an appointive eom- 
missinn with largo powers, including that of the fixing 
• •f railroad rates. The original measure provided that 
the rates then in effect should remain as the maximum 
rates until changed by the commission, but following the 
hearings the committee presented a substitute more 
«lra.stie than the original, rerpiiring the commission to 
hx and establish new rates. The law as finallv enacted 
in 1!K);) was in .-ffeet the (.riginal bill of 190M, providing 



Railroad Commission Bill 



M7 



for an a})j)ointivt' fuimnisjsioii with powers to rejiulate 
rates instead of inaiijiiirating: an entire new set of rates. 
The battle lines (iuiekly formed on this newest "men- 
ace to business" by the administration. Dramatie seenes 
marked tlie hearings on the measure. ( )nee T. V. Rieh- 
mond of Madison — then an ardent progressive — in ap- 
pearing before the committee in behalf of certain ship- 
]>ers of dairy products, told how a man in Shawano had 
found it necessary to go to Chicago to ascertain from 
the railroads if he would be given a rate by which he 
could meet competition. Mv. Richmond denounced a 
condition that made it possible for railroads to thus dic- 
tate the life or death of individuals and towns. Rich- 
mond declining to give tlie names of his informants, 
Burton Hanson, attorney for the St. Paul railroad, de- 
clared his belief that no such statenu^nts had been nuide, 
whereujion the fiery ^ladison lawyer advaneed u])ot! 
him and shaking his fist in the railroad attorney's face 
shouted: "The gentleman has passed a remark that 




Old AssemVilj- Chamber of Wisconsin Capitol 



248 LaFom.ette's Winnmng of Wisconsin 

he wdiil.hrt dare to repeat in the open." Hired claquers 
were even employed, it was said, to create applause when- 
ever the railroad attorneys made a telling point. 

The stalwart members of the legislature professed to 
be greatly opposed to the appointive feature of the pro- 
posed commission law, and at this session, and in the 
campaign following, persistently urged an elective com- 
mission ; but Governor LaFollette and his supporters 
were determined that if the commission measure became 
law it should be administered by a picked body of men 
from wliom the best results might be expected in the 
effort to make the law a success. 

This view was abundantly justified in the excellent ap- 
pointments made by Governor LaFollette in the com- 
mission as originally formed. / On April 28, before a 
vote had been taken on the measure, Governor LaFol- 
lette again appeared and read a lengthy special message / 
of over one hundred pages, fortified by seventy-five more 
pages of statistics, in support of the bill, to prove that 
Wisconsin was paying higher freight rates than Illinois 
or Iowa, which states had rate commissions. 

In this message, as in his previous one, the governor 
took occas ion t o speak to the larger ear of the nation 
by a caustic discussion of the limited powers of the in- 
terstate commerce commission. The railroad attorneys 
who had opposed the rate bill had declared that the ex- 
isting laws of the state fully protected the people against 
transportation abuses and had kept pace with interstate 
commerce legislation. After j^ointing out in sarcastic 
and pitying jdirase the then very small powers of the 
interstate connncrce commission, tlie u'ovei-nor said in 
reference to his own state: 

In truth nnd in fact the Wisconsin statutes and tlie authority 
of the railroad pomniissioner stand today a shame and a reproach 
to u statf of Wisconsin's imiustrial and commercial rank. 

Tlie lobby was sli;ii"ply scored, the governor declaring 
ihat ail orcj-.-ini/atinii \\;is formed Ijrfdre tlie legislature 



Railuoad Commission Bill 249 

met for the purpose not only of defeating this legisla- 
tion, but of defeating any attempt to pass a bill increas- 
ing the taxes upon railroads. The logical sequence, he 
said, would mean an increase in rates. Tlie shippers 
who opposed the legislation, he cliarged, were acting 
under direction of the railroads. The shippers might be 
satisfied, he said, but the people of the state would never 
be until they were placed upon an equal footing. 

At this fresh and emphatic insistence on rate legisla- 
tion the railroad lobby sent out a cry of alarm and tlie 
next day the largest gathering of citizens ever assembled 
in Madison in active conne9tion witli legislation ap- 
peared in the form of shippers from all over the state, 
come at the behest of the raili-oads to protest against the 
passage of the bill. 

The shippers met in the senate chamber and after du§ 
discussion adopted a formal protest which had been 
drawn up, and this protest signed by 164 firms and indi- 
viduals was laid on the desk of every member. They 
also joined with the lobby in an active canvass among 
the legislators to secure the defeat of the bill. To give 
significance to the occasion the great Senator Spooner, 
fresh from the prestige of a unanimous re-election at 
the hands of both administration and stalwart members, 
arrived in Madison that day and gave added heart and 
exaltation to the opposition. 

The protest of the shippers contained among other 
things the following statements : 
To the Assembly of the State of Wisconsin: 

We respectfully but most earnestly protest against the passage 
of the railway commission bill, and, in support of our ]>osition, 
beg leave to invite your attention to the reasons for such ojiposi- 
tion. 

Wisconsin is a manufacturing and producing state. Its farms, 
its factories, its mines, and its forests are tlie sources of its wealth 
and its greatness. Any legislation, the tendency of which will be 
to jeopardize or harass these interests, is not deserving of the 
support of any citizen who has the welfare of the state at heart. 



250 LaFollette's Winning of Wisconsin 

The prci.kK'ers of Wisconsin have, after many years of labor and 
effort, succeeded in bringing about the adoption by the railroad 
companies of the state of such commodity, group and concentra- 
tion rates as are best fitted to develop their business interests and 
promote the growth of the state. This has been accomplished 
with the least injury to any of the interests of the state; indeed 
it has resulted to the general benefit of all. In dependence upon 
these rates, large investments have been made, great manufactur- 
ing and sliipping industries have been built up, and plans 'per- 
fected which will materially aid in the future growth of the state. 

Wo believe that any attempt to disturb this system of trans- 
portation rates will unsettle the business affairs of the state, en- 
danger investments, and interfere with the development of our 
industries. 

If those who are in charge of tlie business interests of the 
state are satisfied with the {present rates of transportation, it 
would seem that those who manage the politics of the state ought 
to be satisfied, and not interfere or attempt to interfere in our 
business affairs. We know whereof we speak. We know that 
the pending bill is a menace to our business, aiul to the general 
welfare of the state. 

In vi(MV of the splendid results that have followed the 
adoption of the rate commission law. it is interesting to 
note in this connection that in the following year another 
protest was issued signed by sixty-three leading manu- 
facturers. That address contained, among other things, 
the following : 

The proposition to have enacted in this state laws * * * 
conferring power ujion a board of railway commissioners to pre- 
scribe a schedule of rates under which all the traffic of the state 
shall be moved, will, if carried out, be fraught with dire results 
to our manufacturing interests. Under the present system of 
transportation rates in use in this state for many years, the ma- 
terial interests in our farms, mines, factories and forests have 
enjoyed a well-balanced and great ])rosperity, in marked contrast 
with the state of Iowa, where under a system of inflexible distance 
tariff rates fixed by a commission, the business of manufacturing 
has languished, to the great detriment of the people and to the 
state at large. 

Under the present method of adjusting rates, and after long 
and continued effort on the part of our manufacturers, in which 
the transportation companies have willingly joined, a system of 



RAfi.KOAD Commission Biu. 251 

freight tariffs has been built up in Wisconsin which enables the 
manufacturers doing business in the various centers of the state, 
to secure their raw material and to reach the distributing centers, 
or gateways of the country, with their finished products on sub- 
stantially even terms, thereby enabling them to compete with each 
other, as well as with the manufacturers of other states located 
more conveniently to the markets. 

The policy of equalizing carrying charges between points 
within the state, and from points in this state to distributing 
centers or gateways outside of the state, has encouraged, and is 
encouraging the location of manufacturing plants and centers at 
places widely separated throughout the state, thus aiding in a 
healthy and widespread develoi:)ment of all resources, resulting in 
great and inestimable benefit to all of our people. 

The attempted rearrangement 1)y a railway commission of the 
freight tariffs and system, so built up and developed, would result 
in widespread disturbance to business interests; continued uncer- 
tainty as to rates, and the financial run of many of our industries, 
the very existence of which is almost wholly dependent upon the 
undisturbed continuance of the present system. 

The great power of the highly oroanized lobby of the 
time was to be proved in the overwhelming defeat of the 
bill. /The measure came up as special order at 10 o'clock 
in the morning of April 30, and was debated until after 
midnight. .- Great crowds were attracted to the capitol to 
witness the brilliant struggle and joined feverishly in 
the excitement prevailing. 

Leading the fight for the measure were Speaker Len- 
root, Assemblyman J. A. Frear of Hudson, and Chair- 
man C. W. Gilman of Mondovi, of the assembly»commit- 
tee on railroads, others who took the floor for the bill 
being Assemblymen David Evans, Jr., of Waushara, 
A. H. Dahl of Vernon county, Henry Johnson of Oconto, 
0. G. Kinney, who had succeded A. R. Hall. W. L. Koot 
of Appleton, W. S. Irvine of Clark, and E. W. LeRoy of 
Marinette, while speaking in opposition were Assembly- 
men Frank A. Cady of Marshfield, a former administra- 
tion floor leader, who surprised his colleagues by going 
over to the other side: A. L. Osborn, a lumberman of 



•j5'j LaFoi-i-ktte's Winmnu of Wisconsin 

Iron county; W. C. Cowling of Oshkosh, Charles Barker 
of Milwaukee, and M. J. Wallrich of Shawano. 

Conscious of its power to kill the measure, the opposi- 
tion voted down all amendments, including one by As- 
semblyman Torger G. Thompson of Dane county, for an 
elective commission and one by Assemblyman LeRoy for 
a referendum./ Then came the defeat of the committee 
substitute and finally, when it was seen the measure was 
doomed, the killinj; of the bill by a vote of 67 to 25, on 
motion of former .Speaker Ray of LaCrosse. / 

The rate regulation question thus went over to become 
one of the burning issues of the next campaign. 

Attention has been called to the action of certain ship- 
pers in the campaign of 1904 in continuing their opposi- 
tion to a commi.ssion law. A further observation may 
be made. 

When the rate eomniission bill again came up in the 
session of 1905 these same protesting shippers who had 
been as the leaves of the forest at the previous session 
failed to reappear at ]\Iadison, and thereby hangs a tale. 

Among the few bills affecting the railroads which^ 
slipi)ed through at the sessicm of 1903 was one in re- 
sponse to a special message by Governor LaFollette 
authoring the railroad commissioner to make an investi- 
gation of the books of the railroad companies operating 
in the state to ascertain if the companies had included 
in their* reports of gross earnings the rebates they had 
been giving for years back. The governor held that 
such rebates sJKJidd be included in the gross earnings 
and be sid)jeet to tax. Although a sensation was created 
by the message, the l)ill was allowed to go through. 
After <bie examinatiun Kuilroad Commissioner Thomas 
reported the fc.llowing year the discovery that rebates 
to the amount of $4,500,000 had been given by the rail- 
roads to favored shippers. Sprung at a psychological 
moment in the sharp eanipaign of 1904, this revelation 



Railroad Commission Bill 253 

bore immediate political results, but was to prove of 
further significance later. 

In his message at the following session the governor 
briefly observed that all shippers were entitled to pro- 
tection against extortion from the railroads, but were 
any shippers voluntarily aiding the railroads in the 
maintenance of high rates in order that they might 
themselves receive lower rates, then the public was en- 
titled to protection against such shippers. 

Believing that the governor had obtained the names of 
those who had been favored in the matter of rebates, no 
shippers appeared at the next session to oppose rate 
regulation. 

In retreat, as it were, after this rate commission battle. 
Governor LaFollette turned suddenly, and in an attack 
from an unexpected quarter appeared to the startled 
opposition for a time to be in a fair way of changing de- 
feat into victory. This move was his attempted check- 
mating of the so-called "railroads' red line," and illus- 
trated the resourcefulness of the governor. 

"While the railroad ad valorem bill was pending in the 
senate the state board of control advertised for bids for 
coal for the state penal and charitable institutions. In 
their bids the coal companies inserted a provision under- 
scored in red that such contracts were subject to changes 
that might be made in freight rates through pending 
legislation. Immediately upon receipt of this informa- 
tion Governor LaFollette sent a special message to the 
legislature recommending the prompt enactment of a 
law to prevent any increase in transportation charges by 
the railroads in Wisconsin above those in force on June 
15 preceding. Calling attention to the action of the coal 
companies, Governor LaFollette charged tliat they had 
"received suggestions from railroad officials" and said: 

A sludy of tlie transportation charges in this state throughout 
the years covered by the efforts made to increase railroad taxation 
will show such advance as leaves little doubt that there has been 



254 LaFoixette's WiNNiXG OK Wisconsin 

upon tlio part of tlie railroaiis a forehanded determination to be 
prej»are<l against legislation equalizing taxation. 

A bill to meet the governor's recommendations was 
promptly introduced by the assembly committee on rail- 
roads. The railroad lobby was astounded by the bold- 
ness and rapidity of these moves. Were this bill to pass 
the recent defeat of the rate commission bill might prove 
largely a barren victory. It would prevent the raising 
of rates by which the railroads hoped to render harmless 
the ad valorem bill. Accordingly the lobby moved in 
force upon the assembly. 

A year or two ago, a former assemblyman while en- 
gaged in destroying old papers came upon a mass of 
telegrams. **I think I shall have to keep these," he 
said smiling. "They remind me of the morning when we 
pa.ssed the maximum red-line freight bill and when our 
mail boxes were so stuffed with telegrams of protest 
against the bill that there was no room for our letters." 

These telegrams apparently came largely from the 
very shippers who had recently fought the rate com- 
mission »bill and who now appeared to take the very 
strange position of opposing a law to prevent the raising 
of their own rates. However, the telegrams were largely 
of a "fake" nature, uniform in style, and many were 
afterwards repudiated by shippers whose names they 
professed to bear. Indeed at a political meeting the fol- 
lowing year one assemblyman (Finnegan) produced a 
..andful of telegrams frcm certain shippers favoring the 
bill and anotlier handful opposing the measure, and 
Bipne«l by the same shippers, all bearing the same date. 

To tlie surprise of everyone the assembly passed the 
liill. and without debate, May 12, by a vote of 55 to 37, 
at pracliealiy the same hf.ur of the day that the senate 
concurred in the ad valorem bill. The railroad attor- 
neys then promptly shifted their attentions to the senate 
where fhey saved the day by bringing about the defeat of 
the liill by a vote (.f 20 to 10. also without debate. 



CHAPTER XVIII 

Incidents of Session of 1903. 

Ke-election of Senator Spooner — ^President Boosevelt 
Visits Capital — A Period of Teeming Activity — Walavokth 
County Politics Eeviewed. 

JjESIDES its great legislative battles the session of 
1903 was replete with other incidents of a more or less 
extraordinary natnre. 

On January 28, John C. Spooner was re-elected United 
States senator, receiving the unanimous republican vote. 
Naturally this was made a state occasion and party and 
factional differences ' were laid aside to give him honor 
on his appearance to accept the election./ In view of the 
fact that this election had followed his announcement 
that he would not again be a candidate, which had proved 
a nine-day wonder of the time, and of the controversy — 
necessary or otherwise — which had been waged over him 
for the past two years, unusual interest attached in his 
appearance. /This was further heightened by the pres- 
ence of Governor LaFollette, members of the legislature 
and the supreme court/ As the cynosure of a crowded 
chamber of men and women, and with his political op- 
ponents before him. the senator labored under tre- 
mendous stress and the speech which he held in his hand 
trembled like a leaf throughout its delivery. 

* * * 

Relieving for a space the factional tension of the time, 
was a visit to the capital by President Roosevelt, with 
the usual ovation from the citizens and an address to 
the legislature as incidents. 

On a previous occasion when Roosevelt had come to 
the city to speak before the State Historical Society he 
liad been a guest at the LaFollette home, yet on this occa- 



250 LaKoi-lette's Winning of Wisconsin 

sic. II it was attempted to show that the governor was 
not very enthusiastic over the strenuous executive, and 
in fact suspected the president's sincerity. 

Ill his introduction of the president, Governor LaFol- 
K'tte said 4 "The people are for you because they be- 
lieve you are the exponent, the fearless exponent, of that 
principle < Lincoln's) in this country." 

The stalwart i)ress noted that LaFollette said not "you 
are," but "they believe you are, etc." Accordingly, he 
was charged -with doubting the president's sincerity. It 
illustrated the fierceness of the light beating upon the 
governor's every action. 

This session was to witness, also, the grand culmina- 
tion of the old-time lobby in its extraordinary influence 
and power. Prof. E. A. Ross — evidently forgetting the 
reconstruction period — recently gave the view that the 
year 1003 was the nadir of our national political life; 
with almost equal truth the same might be said of Wis- 
consin politics of the period. 

Other legislatures may have been marked by more dis- 
creditabh' subserviency to the lobby, greater pliancy to 
tiie influence of money, but the moral issues being not 
tlien so sharply drawn their practices were accepted as 
a matter of course. In view of the fact that the issues 
were more clearly presented in its day, the legislature of 
1!»()M luis a sordid record to defend. However, when it 
is remembered tliat for number, boldness and effrontery 
the lobby of this session probably surpassed any other 
in the state's history, its influence should not occasion 
wonder. In numbers it far exceeded the legislature it- 
self. Some idea of the cost of maintenance of this potent 
"third house" may be drawn from the fact that M. C. 
King, attorney for the Chicago & Northwestern railroad, 
swore; to an expenditure by his company alone for salaries 
and other expenses for llie session of $6,931.93. It is 



Incidents of Session of 1903 257 

known also that statements of lobby expenditures of that 
period were notoriously incomplete. 

In addition to killing the rate commission bill and the 
maximum freight bill, the lobby had a number of other 
notable victories to its credit at this session. Among 
such may be cited the defeat of the Irvine anti-lobby 
bill, the grain inspection bill, the bill to prohibit rail- 
roads from granting rebates, the two-cent railroad fare 
bill and the Donald telephone bill aimed to prohibit the 
Bell telephone company's practice of giving low rates 
to crush out independent competition where such existed 
and making up the loss by increased rates where it en- 
joyed a monopoly. All these measures went down to 
death. In the interests of the food adulterators, the 
lobby was also active in opposing all pure food legisla- 
tion attempted at this session. 

This record was doubtless responsible for the enact- 
ment by the next legislature of the anti-lobby law, re- 
quiring registration on the part of all legislative agents 
and interests employing them and limiting their activities 
to arguments before committees. 

Reference has been made to the employment of a 
woman to help defeat the railway taxation bill in the 
session of 1901. There were other instances of the use 
of women's wiles to bring about results. In the good 
old days when the third house was at its height in num- 
bers and influence there w^as usually a generous sprin- 
icling about the statehouse of daughters of the gods di- 
vinely tall, and correspondingly alluring, and not infre- 
quently they were employed as factors in influencing 
legislation. 

"I noticed you refused to speak to me last night," 
said one Wisconsin solon to another after a meeting at 
a restaurant w^here each had been accompanied by a 
peroxide blonde. "Yes," replied Solon No. 2. with con- 



17 



26s I,aFoixette's Winning of Wisconsin 

suinmate gravity. "I was afraid my wife might not care 
lo iiKM't the lady with you." 

In one of the sessions of this period also occurred the 
hatpin episode, whose story went its frequent and jesting 
round at the time and which scarcely deserves notice 
now save as illustrative of the practices of the time and 
because of its dircet influence upon the legislation of the 

Bcssion. 

Among the legislators was a certain administration 
member whose feet were not of too enduring material. 
Either in a spirit of sport or of machiavelian design 
someone conceived the idea of winning him over by 
throwing an unprincipled woman across his path. It 
was arranged with the woman that while posing at a 
mirror with him by her side passing upon her appear- 
ance she should, seemingly by accident, scratch him 
across the cheek with a hatpin. The pact was carried 
out and tiie legislator duly appeared with a scratch across 
his cheek. The conspirators immediately surrounded 
him and in seeming solicitude asked the cause of his acci- 
dent, lie explained that he had fallen against a sharp 
corner of his dresser. A loud guflfaw greeted his answer. 
"Ha! ha! ha!" came in a chorus; "well, old boy, the 
drinks are on you, but we'll pass you up this time if 
you'll vote right on the railroad bill when it comes up. 
Oh, you can't explain; we've heard all about it and — 
we can produce the woman. We've got the goods on you. 
You surely don't want to scandalize yourself and your 
family?" He voted against the bill. The reprehensible 
little ruse had worked. But his conscience worrying 
him at the betrayal of his pledges, he finally made a full 
j'xplanation of the alTair to Governor LaFollette. "You 
should have called their bluff," said the governor grimly, 
"and seen if they had dared carry out their hellish plot 
lo the end. I doubt if the cowards had." 

The 8o-falled Anna Held incident mav be here cited 



iNClUEiNTS OF SlCSSION OF 1903 259 

also, since it was one that attained to a somewhat tena- 
cious celebrity. Four senators and one assemblyman 
set out one evening to enjoy a lark in the manner of the 
time. When a mildly mellow stage had been reached, 
they repaired in a body to the Fuller opera house where 
Anna Held and her troupe were holding the boards that 
night. To the better enjoy the occasion, the party took 
a box and in the course of the performance flirted furi- 
ously with "the nymphic Anna of the ambient eyes" 
and her Ionic-shaped sisters. The student stage door 
johnnies on this occasion must have been quickly put 
hors de combat by these veterans, for it was not long 
before this legislative coterie was snugly ensconced in the 
room of one of the senators and about ^ table whose 
graceful setting included a bevy of dimpled divinities 
from the visiting troupe. The subsequent jollity reached 
an altitudinous state, so high in fact that the night oper- 
ator in the telephone office overhead became alarmed and 
called up the police station, declaring that she feared a 
tragedy was being enacted below her, judging from the 
screams that she heard. Responding to the riot call, the 
police burst in upon the revel to the consternation of the 
participants and broke it up, in the course of which pro- 
ceeding it became necessary to tap one of the senators 
with a billy. News of the occurrence leaked out next 
day and made one of the "biggest stories" Winter 
Everett ever "pulled* off." 

The distinction thus earned clung for years to the par- 
ticipants, to which a tantalizing opposition press loved 
to refer as the "Anna Held legislators." One develop- 
ment of the affair was a libel suit brought against the 
Free Press by one Milwaukee member whose name the 
paper had erroneously used in connection with the affair. 
The manner in which this suit was suppressed because of 
subsequent investigation made by "Bill" Powell forms 
one of the most incredulous, thrilling and amusing stories 
in the private annals of the craft. 



u'jjo I.aI'ollktte's Winning of Wisconsin 

A t rat'ic episode which frives some idea of the tenseness 
of feolinn; and keenness of rivalry between the factions 
at this time is recalled. Dnring the crisis of a very im- 
portant measure one member of the legislature, who had 
been counted an administration supporter, was called 
home by a death in his family. On his return to Madi- 
son he was met at the station by a number of his stal- 
wart colleagues and told, according to the story soon 
afterward current, that a certain mortgage upon his farm 
would be extended, but the bill in question must first be 
killed. The news that he had been taken in tow by the 
opposition was eonvej'ed to Governor LaFollette, who 
suspecting something was wrong sent for the member. 
It was after midnight and the poor old farmer, crushed 
with grief ana beaten down and bewnldered by the im- 
ptirtunations of the stalwarts, presented a sorry spec- 
tacle. The governor inquired kindly regarding his fam- 
ily affairs and finally adverted to the bill in (luestion, 
whereupon the old man burst into tears and informed 
the governor that he had promised to vote against the 
measure. "But you first promised me to vote for it?" 
said the governor. "1 know it is wrong," said the old 
man. "but they have got me where thej' can ruin me. 
It is a case of life and death with me, almost." The old 
man walked out in silence. It was one of those tragedies 
that drove the iron into men's souls. 
« * * . 

If the sentiment expressed by Byron. "One glorious 
hour of crowded fame is worth an age without a name," 
ever appealed to liaFollette it must have come to him 
with peculiar force in those history-making days, for 
events fairly trod one another's heels. The executive 
oftice was not only the jiolitieal nerve-center of the state, 
but a deeidedly sensitive and active one. B^'requently the 
lights would !)(• seen blinking from its windows all night 
long.. At this spectacle the opposition stalwart leadei's 



I\( IIIK.NTS OK S'KSSIOX OF 1903 261 

would gaze in rueful speculation and apprehension. Too 
often it meant that some sledgehammer blow was about 
to descend upon them in some unexpected quarter, some 
coup at some unguarded point that would leave their 
hopes high and dry. 

As with Caesar, of whom it is related that he could 
defer sleep to extraordinary lengths when necessary and 
then take it in snatches, on horseback, beside campfires, 
in the rain, so with LaFollette. It came to be said of 
him that he didn't sleep, but simply assumed another 
position. Even in his earlier days, in the practice of 
the law, he would often remain with a case until he had 
mastered it, taking his necessary sleep on the floor with 
a law book for a pillow. "Let's go up to the executive 
residence and call on the governor before you leave 
tovn," said one Madisonian to a visitor at 2 o'clock one 
morning. Such unconventional proceeding was nothing 
strange at that time. 

On the occasion of one of his visits to ^lilwaukee, Gov- 
ernor LaFollette was accompanied by one of his lieu- 
tenants, A. T. Torge. "Now, Torge, " said he on arriv- 
ing at his hotel, "I want to go up stairs and take a little 
nap this afternoon; you wake me in fifteen minutes." 
"Thought I to myself," said Torge, "what you need is 
fifteen hours sleep; I'll give you three anyway," and to 
prevent anyone disturbing his charge he locked the door 
and putting the key in his pocket went down staii's. In 
a. quarter of an hour he was astonished to hear loud 
thumpings from the room he had just left. The governor 
had slept his self-prescribed time and now wanted to 
get out. 

The governor's capacity for woi'k was i)rodigious. An 
attoriiey pitted against LaFollette in a (pertain case once 
remarked, "what can we expect to do against a man who 
works 25 hours a day?" For Aveeks at a time during 
this session he avei*aged })ut three or four hours sleep a 



'jtpj LaFollettk's Winning ok Wisconsin 

niffht. Invariably tli.- li<rht.s in the executive office blazed 
until long after initlnight. occasionally all night. 

While possessing remarkable facility for turning off 
callers. LaFollette frecjuently abandoned everything else 
to enjoy a visitor. If he became interested it mattered 
not that callers on missions of the most vital import 
wen- impatiently pacing the floor of the anteroom; they 
simply hatl to wait until he had heard out some story 
or had iiiniself related some Colorado hunting experience 
or amusing Chautauqua incident. While he was gov- 
ernor, much of the official work could be done only after 
midnight and in the early forenoon. The various bills 
and other matters would then be studied and considered. 
A small room in the basement beneath the executive 
office had been fitted up for his use and here completely 
shut off from the clamorous outside world he would work 
luidisturlx'd. Occasionally his advisers and favored 
visitors were als(» received here and could the walls of 
this retreat have si)oken they might have revealed many 
a tall' of plot and countei-plot in comparison with which 
this history were tame reading. 

It hai)pened that one nigiit after tlie final adjournment 
of the legislature a group of " half-breed " legislators 
<'ame to the executive office at 2 o'clock in the morning. 
LaFollette was in tlie dungeon below signing bills and 
preparing to take a 4 o'clock train on a lecturing tour. 
Finally he came np stairs and meeting Senator George 
Wylie. he threw his arms aronnd the latter 's neck and 
said: "Well, we didn't i:ei all wc^ wanted, but we did 
pretty well, and we have enongh left over for another 
campaiirn." .\ like alTectionate greeting was given Sen- 
ator .Martin and others. "And you could have tied their 
snides behind their ears." said a spectator afterwards. 

Admittance to this basement room, by the way,- repre- 
sented jiractically the highest degree of confidence in a 
caller on the part of the governor. It was practically 



Incidents of Session of 1903 263 

equivalent to a clean bill of health, politiealh' speaking, 
in administration eyes, and in addition a recognition of 
more than ordinary Avorth and consequence in the indi- 
vidual favored. The rooms at the executive office, it 
might be explained, permitted the grading of callers into 
classes corresponding to their consequence or worth in 
the eyes of the governor and his kitchen cabinet. The 
large outer office, or reception room, was open to all. 
Here was the office of the private secretarj- and the ex- 
ecutive clerk, and here were met the newspaper men, 
politicians and all casual callers. Few stalwarts of con- 
sequence who had occasion to call ever got beyond this 
room. As governor, LaFollette discouraged the ad- 
vances of such visitors, and was quite firm and formal, 
and sometimes quite frigid, to "them. Save for one or 
two exceptions, he plainly did not care for these callers. 
He was determined that no wrong construction should 
be placed in the public mind on his attitude toward his 
political opponents. He early accepted the wisdom of 
avoiding the appearance of evil, which to many seemed 
anomalous or contradictory in a nature so decisive and 
unafraid. 

To the right of this outer office were the governor's 
private offices. Callers who could satisfy Colonel Mur- 
phy or John Hannan that their missions justified the 
privilege were admitted to these rooms. 

Were still greater privacy than the executive's own 
office desired recourse was had to the stenographers' 
room adjoining the outer office on the left, and to be 
invited there might be said to mark the attainment of 
the second degree in official favor. 

But the basement retreat, which was reached by a 
spiral iron stair from the stenographers' room, was the 
ne plus ultra in administration esteem. With the ex- 
ception of an occasional distinguished visitor from out- 
side the state, onlv the trulv elect ever attained tiiis 



•j,Vl I,.\Foi,i.ette's Winning of Wisconsin 

station, only tli(»sr who b.-sidcs l)oing thoroughly en 
rapport with the administration had a further reputation 
for political sagacity or could be expected to deliver the 
goods in their hf)ine localities, in other words men of 
weight and standing. 

Of course there were exceptions to all these regulations 
in the form of a few i)rivileged ones who felt free to 
enter any sanctum at any time, such as K. W. Chyno- 
weth. Irvine Lenroot, (Jeneral George E. Bryant and 
H. S. Comstock, but these might almost be regarded as 
part <if the executive machinery of the state anyway. 

It might be added that ranking in favor with a con- 
ference in this basement retreat was an invitation to the 
executive residence. Owing to the fact that LaFollette 
as gf>vernor found it necessary to do much of his work 
at home ho could not give much time to visitors there, 
and a personal invitation to the executive residence was 
therefore a marked honor to the recipient. 

It is characteristic of strong souls to be blind to ideas 
that do not originate in theii" own intense natures. Be- 
cause of this failing, men of independent spirit are 
often led into unwise steps, but this does not alter the 
groat fact. It is constitutional with positive characters 
and must be so expected to manifest itself. Such na- 
tures are likewise prone to he blind to any virtues in 
those who oppose them. In tlieir relations with their 
fellows tiiey treat upon tiie l)asis of "whoever is not 
wholly with me is against me." 

This may be said to have been the touchstone by which 
Lal'\tlli'tte unconsciously tried his fellows, and on the 
whole it a|)pears to be the wise rule to folh^w, at least 
for such as can bear much in the way of misunderstand- 
ing and opposition. lie did not make the mistake char- 
acteristic of weak natures of seeking to placate his ene- 
mies. Ilo rewarded his friends, but smote his foes. 
While, liki' the generality of Icadei-s. he has lieen willing 



L\( IDIOMS OF Skssicn OF 1903 265 

to use all who would serve him, he has had small patience 
with such "reformers" and so-called progressives who, 
while loudly zealous on some propositions, have 3'et 
cautiously maintained "pipe-line" connections, so to 
speak, with some hostile interest, or, to change the figure, 
have never lost sight of a port to windward. And with 
a penetration subtler than most men's he has seldom 
overestimated the worth of such followers. 

The workings of the so-called "LaFollette mind," by 
the way, was a subject that engaged the study of many 
political psychologists at the time and since. Amos P. 
Wilder, editor of the State Journal, often speculated 
upon it editorially. Many believe that LaFollette dic- 
tated and directed all acts and movements individually 
and collectively in his following. For a score of years, 
but more particularly since he went to Washington as 
United States senator, he has been painted on the stump 
and in a large part (>f the opposition ]iress as sitting at 
his office in the national capital like some gigantic magi- 
cian with diabolical intuition .jei'kiiig the proper string 
at every contingency that required action on the part 
of his friends. "Taking orders from Washington." was 
the easy explanation too often advanced f(»r the course 
of action pursued by his friends in Wisconsin, and he 
was thus made the vicarious sufferer for ten thousand 
sins of others. As a matter of fact, it is only occasion- 
ally that he has taken a hand in local contests and issues, 
so engrossed has he been with the larger national ones 
and personal and domestic demands. As Wilder once 
observed, the "LaFollette mind" was not confined to one 
small pompadour head. When a situation arose it re- 
quired no direct connection with the central brain to de- 
termine the attitude to be taken by his followers. As if 
by some magic telepathy, they took their positions in- 
tuitively and seldom in a way inconsistent with the in- 
herent genius of the cause. 



260 LaKoli.ette's Winning of Wisconsin 

The jjdvcnior's enerfry seemed boundless. Said one 
of his friends at the time: 

Science teaches us that power can he convertcil into speed, 
and velocity into power, and this seems to be exemplified in the 
intellectual j.rocesscs of LaFollette. With the most of us when 
we acquire a suri)lu8age of vitality and animal energy we go out 
and • ' work it off. ' ' We simply must burn it up, and do so by 
jilaying, fighting, carousing, or what not. It is a torture to be 
denied this jirivilege. 

Lal'olletti', on the other liaml, seeniiiigly jiossesses a remark- 
able faculty of turning this overflow, through some subtle chem- 
iHtry, into mental energy, and storing it up in his capacious 
nervous reservoir against the day of use. When this day arrives 
he proves himself a very battery of energy and can concentrate 
himself with crushing effect. 

Wlio that has seen him at a social affair at his own house, for 
instcince, and not marveleil at the manifestation of nervous power 
exemplified in him I Feline alertness is perhaps the best com- 
parison to this manifestation. He is seated bolt upright in his 
chair, perhaps smoking violently under the momentary excitement. 
His strong face and firm-set jaw fairly radiate intelligence and 
I>ower. His eyes dance and jtierce with dazzling animation. The 
fingers of his left hand drum the table hard and nervously. As 
someone tells a story he emphasizes the points with sharp and vivid 
grunts, more powerfully expressive than the story-teller himself. 
Wo said seateil on his chair, but no, a lady appears at the door to 
say "good night," and he rises to his feet as by some electric, 
bird- like process wliich gives the feeling that he had not been 
seated at all, but had l)een merely touching his chair. 

I'nfortunately for romance, LaFollette was cauglit young and 
civilized. What a jiirate or highwayman, what a red-handed rip- 
I>or and raider might not this barrel of wildcats have made! What 
u swashbuckling Dumas hero! Hut, alas! he is civilized! 

I'lidor the pressure (if othei- thiii<;s. the o()vernor's 
eorre.spondence would pile uji. much to the vrovry and 
dismay of liis seeretaries and eU-rks. When action finally 
hecanie imperative they wouhl literally dra? him to 
his task. The baptism of work then ofiven them would 
be not soon forprotten. Three or four stcnofrraphers 
wouM be called in and in relay fashion the <xovcrnor 
wdidd dictate tf) them wifli L'reat rapidity for hours so 



Incidexts of Session of 1903 267 

that several machines were kept constantlj^ transcribing 
his words until the pile of letters before him had melted 
away. 

He worked in like manner on his messages to the legis- 
lature — these remarkable state papers of Hamiltoniaii 
lucidity and logic were frequently prepared under sim- 
ilar distracting circumstances and pressure at the very 
last moment, frequently going to the houses with the ink 
of his signature upon them still undried. 

In this connection an incident throwing an interesting 
sidelight upon LaFollette's nature may be cited. Fol- 
lowing his second election as governor in the fall of 1902 
some sympathetic old woman in the ]iorthern part of 
the state sent him a pair of thick w^oolen mittens, and 
with them a loving note of appreciation, stating that she 
had knit them herself and trusted that they might be of 
use to him. The governor was greatly moved at the re- 
ceipt of them, but neglected to repjy to the aged donor's 
letter. Weeks and months dragged by and still the 
letter remained unanswered. When reminded of the 
fact by his secretary, he would reply," yes, some other 
time." Finally there came a rainy day when callers 
were few and he found the desired moment. Instead of 
going home to lunch he sat down to acknowledge the 
receipt and his appreciation of the gift. Over an hour 
was spent in its writing, in the course of which he took 
occasion to pay a tribute to his own mother and rehearse 
some of the privations she had undergone in pioneer 
days. 

In respect to the attitude of the governor toward vis- 
itors at the time, however, there has been much disagree- 
ment. Many who sought interviews and conferences 
with him in the very nature of things had to be disap- 
pointed and therefore laid up against him the charge that 
he was shutting the door in the face of the people of the 
state. The marvel is that he found time to keep open 



:ns 



I.vFoii.kttk's Winning ok Wisconsin 



house to as nuiiiy as he did. Men of LaFoUette's mag- 
nrtisiu, initiative and leadership when in positions of 
influence and power, are constantly beset by visitors, 
and LaFollette had more than his share of them. The 
place-seeker; the idly curious; the man "with a knife 
out" for soiui'one; the man witli an axe to grind; the 
individual who believed he had secrets and ideas of 
value; the eager lieutenant with new plans and reports; 
the agent seeking for a sale or the prestige of the gov- 
ernor's endorsement ; the man who had known his father 
and wanted to sit down and talk an hour or two of old 
times; the woman after a son's or a husband's pardon; 
the upstate man who thorght his i-ailroad fare to Madi- 
son entitled him to a handshake and a chat — these, and 
the el()u<l of newspaper reporters always on his trail, 
were familiar figures at all hours of the day and night in 
the anteroom of the executive of^ce. 

To receive, entertain, amuse, placate and relieve all 
these heterogeneous elements and interests from morn- 
ing until midnight, day after day, would seem a task to 
apiial the stoutest. Yet this was, of course, merely in- 
cidfutal to the larger and really vital work of LaFollette. 

The reform ideas which were consnming him with 
entlmsiasm and which he determined to place npon the 
statute books he had to eonstinict and develop lai'gely 
aloiif. It was almost vii'gin ground which he had to 
break and in the breaking of which he had to uproot 
hoary stum|)s of prejudice and precedent and turn under 
a tenacious growth of ti'aditions. jiolitical supei'stitions 
and practices. 

Ttiroujjli niiciont lies of proudest l)irth 
Iff firovc lii.s Mliare. 

The.se largely experimental ideas Ik^ also had to make 
prnetieal ami effective, able to withstand the test of 
cftnstitutionjdity - as in the nuiin tliey iiave, and how' ad- 
mirably have they not withstood the test, a splendid tri- 



IXCIDEXTS OF SksSIOX OK 1903 269 

bute to LaFollette's constructive statesmanship and 
strong good sense. And lastly, in addition to disseminat- 
ing and nurturing the seeds of these ideas in the minds 
of an electorate not yet attuned to the ne^v movement, he 
had to wage an unceasing warfare of self preservation 
against a powerful party rebellion and weld his own 
heterogeneous following — "General Brj-ant's miserable 
rabble" — into an efit'ective fighting machine. In other 
words, he had to largely create the issues and create the 
army. "What wonder that he could not please everyone 
who sought him? 

LaFoUette while governor set a shining example to 
other executives by dealing with conditions and men 
exactly as he found them. He wasted no time in re- 
pining. He thereby obtained results. This trait was 
strikingly shown in his campaigns. He had to "fight 
the devil with fire" and meet desperate and underhanded 
methods with the same practices. Questionable deals 
with both democrats and stalwarts had to be made to 
hold some vital point or capture some strategic position. 
The whole delegation of Door county was once won over 
by thus taking care of one man. It was a frequent ex- 
perience to hear the telephone in the executive office rhig 
and a voice call from somewhere far across the state 
where some critical convention was being held, saying : 

Governor, So-and-So is kicking over the traces and promising 
to make all kinds of trouble. We liave got to have him to win the 
day. What can we offer him? 

Such were among the ])roblems constantly presented to 
the resourceful executive for solution. Occasionally a 
bargain had to be closed with some disreputable indi- 
vidual whom no self-respecting man would in any othef 
contingency deign to recognize. All volunteers were 
received and put into ranks wherever they would fit. 
With his field marshals it was the same. There was no 
squeamish scanning of their motives in coming in, noi- 



270 I.aFoi.i.ette's Winnino op Wisconsin 

lof their tactics in tli.- field later. With the Neys, Junots 
and Bertrands, whose disinterested hearts and hands 
were jriven wholly to their jreneral, were received also 
the self-seeking' Bernadottes, Talleyrands and Moreaus. 
If they could but fijiht, no question was raised. It has 
been said that all ^'reat men are unscrupulous. Certain 
it is that hesitation at scruples has lost many battles and 
also has been the cause of many missing greatness. 

The sharpest tactics were resorted to by each side to 
learn the plans of the other. One half-breed member of 
the lower house was particularly successful in "getting 
next" to the opposition, and through him the governor 
was able to know almost day by day the secrets and oper- 
ations <jf the "enemy." A good fellow, himself, one of 
his most fruitful methods was to frequent the saloons 
where certain stalwarts were wont to gather of evenings 
and join them in a gentleman's round of conviviality. 
Knowing how liquor can loosen men's tongues, he would 
in due sea.son skillfully draw out some now more confi- 
dential companion and obtain his desired information, 
occasionally finding it necessary to feign intoxication to 
do so. "Xot very nice business," he would say, "but 
this is war." 

To guard against possible leaks through them, news- 
papornien were sharply watched by both sides. Occa- 
sionally (h'sperato and ingenious methods had to be em- 
ployed by the press "gang" to obtain the news. On 
one occasion a Milwaukee sleuth succeeded one afternoon 
in slipping intr> an alcove of a room in which a confer- 
ence was to bo held in the evening and from this vantage 
point was able to get the desired story, even to the 
s*|)et«ches made, although himself in total darkness. An- 
other time one of them slipped out on a window sill of 
the capitol and waited an hour or two in the cold that he 
might gi't the story of another secret meeting. The sur- 
l»rise attending the revelations of performances thought 



Incidents of Skssiox of 1903 271 

to be entirely secret can be best imagined. The Wiscon- 
sin legislative sessions of the opening of the century 
were thus rare schools for the training of real newspaper 
men. 

Always to a degree an idealist himself, LaFollette re- 
cast the old rule and employed young men for counsel as 
well as for war. While preparing his first message to 
the legislature in 1901 he had Henry F. Cochems, then 
recently out of the university, "bury himself" (as he 
was directed) for several weeks in the state historical 
library and make a study of articles on current publir 
questions of interest and prepare digests of theni. 
Cochems was one of the wonder students of his day and 
had demonstrated an almost uncanny capacity for this 
sort of work. Owing to the fact that the tax commis- 
sion did not have its report ready, it is said LaFollettt> 
had not intended to say anything about railroad taxation, 
but Cochems, after reading what Governor Pingree of 
Michigan was doing in the way of railroad reform urged 
LaFollette to not be silent on that point. Finding it 
impossible to get any figures from the tax commission, 
they called upon Halford E. Erickson, labor commis- 
sioner, and had him work out some tables which the gov- 
ernor incorporated into his message and which later 
called down much criticism because they did not fully 
correspond with those of the commission. 

About this time also a thin-faced serious student from 
the east who had come to Wisconsin for a doctorate de- 
gree called on the governor and suggested the desirability 
of a legislative reference library to assist legislators in the 
drafting of bills, somewhat along the lines of a similar 
institution established for the British Parliament. It 
was pointed out by the eager and eloquent studei^t that 
such library would not only be of great benefit in the 
Avay of bringing about intelligent scientific legislation, 
but would free the legislators from dependence upon 



271' La FOU.ETTK "s Winning of Wisconsin' 

li.ldiyisls. and corporal ioii attdnieys who liad liithorto 
had so poti'iit a liaiid in shapin*,' legislation and to the 
int.-n'sts of tlicir .•iiiph)yers. The student was Charles 
H. McCarthy. With a few blue books and other state 
publications lie was installed in a little side room in the 
capitul. scarcely lar<;cr tlian an alcove. Thus was begun 
th«' now splendid legislative reference library, oiu^ of 
the boasts f.f Wisconsin, the first of its kind in this coun- 
try, and which is now finding its counterpart in many 
other stales, as it promises to soon be incori)orated into 
the national legislative scheme. 

Some of the difficulties with which the reform cause 
had to contend by the way may be obtained from a study 
of the political conditions in Walworth county at the 
time. 

Walworth county became and i-emained a strongliold 
of stalwartism through a peculiar combination of circum- 
stances, and illustrated in an illuminating way the con- 
nection between high finance and conservatism. ^luch 
the .same story could be told of Marathon county, with its 
comparatively wealthy city of Wausau — the last stal- 
wart stronghold to fall — and of a nund)er of counties. 

A particularly fertile region, Walworth county had 
been largely settled by a tiirifty, conservative New Eng- 
land element. Many of the old families liad become 
wealthy thronLdi simply maintaining their real estate 
holdings. Xaturally diiiiiiu the LaFollette upheavals 
they made cnniiuon cause with "big business'' and 
frowneti upon any disturbance of things as they were. 
Their fortunes in many cases were also involved with 
till- big interests (»f the county. 

{•'rom out the same county too had gone many men 
who had become |)rominently connected with great con- 
corns in the btisiness world and who exercised a conserva- 
tive influence upon their relatives in the old home lo- 
ralitv. 



LxciDEM's OF Sessio-n OF 1903 273 

Lastly should be remembered the fact that large num- 
bers of wealthy Chicago people had homes on Lake 
Geneva and at other desirable places in the county. 
These homes, of regal magnificence, costing individually 
upwards of a million dollars and Avhose very barns were 
appointed with hardwood floors, polished brass and brus- 
sels carpets, tended to create an atmosphere of aris- 
tocracy and conservatism. 

It is interesting to revert to the subject of the big stal- 
warts hailing from this county, and to see the intimate 
blood and business connections that bound them and 
their interests together. Thus out of Walworth county 
had come George R. Peck, a great lawyer and general 
counsel of the St. Paul railroad, as well as George C. 
Wiswall, for years the clever and effective lobbyist of 
the same road, and later John Harris, who after serving 
in both houses of the legislature, succeeded Wiswall as 
lobbyist. It may also be not amiss to note here that the 
Earling family — the directing heads of the same road — • 
came from a nearby county. 

From Walworth also came Edward Tilden of the Chi- 
cago beef trust, who was named in the Lorimer scandal 
and who won notoriety in this connection by his refusal 
to produce the books of the company. During the fac- 
tional controversy in Wisconsin the Delavan Repuhlican 
was edited by a brother-in-law of Tilden 's. 

Another product of Walworth and of the city of Elk- 
horn was Major A. J. Cheney, agent of the Webster dic- 
tionary company, Avho, with S. B. Todd of the American 
Book company, worked to bring about the renomination 
of L. D. Harvey for superintendent of public instruction 
in 1902; so also was A. E. Matheson, the prominent stal- 
wart attorney of Janesville, law partner of Senator John 
M. Whitehead. Then there were local stalwart leaders 
of abilitv and influence, such as Z, P. Beach and E. D. 



IS 



L'74 LaFom.ktte's Winninu ok Wisconsin 

Coc ol' WhitL'walcr aii<l lli'iiry Barnes of Elkhorn, for 
years county clerk. 

F^dward Tilden owned a fine fancy live stock farm 
near Dolavan and was a frequent visitor there. Some 
years ajro the Oelavan hi<rh school building was destroyed 
liy fire and when the new building was dedicated Edward 
Tilden was present as the "big man" of the occasion and 
niarje an aildress. It is said that he did not get beyond 
the grades while attending school in his native Delavan, 
yet here he came back, to his credit, as the president of 
the school board of the great city of Chicago. What 
wonder if he exercised some influence in the community? 

A number of the big business interests of Elkhorn 
were iinderstdod to be enjnyii^valuable favors from the 
railroads in the form of rebates and special rates. In 
return for these favors they were expected to fight the 
LaFollette taxation program. The proximity of p]lk- 
horn to Chicago and the intimate business relations ex- 
isting between certain interests in the two cities made 
Elkhorn a natural channel for anti-LaFollette corpora- 
tion money to find its way from Chicago into Wisconsin 
and it is said a great deal took this course, particularly 
in the imO senatorial campaign. 

The First National Rank of Elkhorn was the fortress 
of stalwartism and to an extent dominated the business 
of the place. .Tolin Harris and Walter West of the 
creamery firm of Harris & West were heavy stockholders 
in this concern and botli used their influence against 
TiaFoUette. the one being a stalwart republican, the other 
a stalwart democrat. Connected with them by business 
and l)lood ties was the creamery firm of Harris & 
Derthick at Waukesha. George Harris of this firm was 
the brother of John Harris of Elkhorn. Interested with 
them was Senator A. M. ("Long") Jones and T. E. 
Uynu. the democratic .stalwart lawyer. An admirable 



iN'flDENTS OF SESSION OF 1903 275 

illustration of the ramification of stalwart relationship is 
thus furnished in this case. 

It was against such powerful forces and influences that 
the young and disinterested republicanism of old Wal- 
worth had to long contest before effecting the change that 
was finally to come. 

It may be added, perhaps, that from the beginning 
the reform program proposed by LaFollette received the 
support of organized labor as well as that of the farm- 
ers. Railroad workers were not then so well organized 
as at present and. as organizations, took no hand in 
politics, but the rank and file, as individuals, were on the 
side of the new movement. A recent letter to Senator 
LaFollette from one J. E. Hannan, then manager of the 
Michigan state fair, may be cited as illustrative of this 
fact. Writing from Detroit, May 23, l9ll, he said : 

I do not know as you remember the writer, but you had a 
case against the Northwestern Railway Company for me when 
I was firing a locomotive for that company. If you remember, 
you did not charge me a cent for your services in settling the 
case, and said that you were running for governor, and that if 
I could say a word to some of the railroad men, for you, I might. 
I do not believe I missed an opportunity to relate your action in 
the matter, and whether it did any good or not, I do not know, 
but I hope and believe it did. 



CHAPTER XIX 

Reading- of Freight Rates. 

Governor Early in Lecture Field After Session — Creates 
Sensation uy rHARuiN(i Bribery in Session or 1901 — Sounds 
First " IIkiH-Cost-of-Livino" Note in Labor Day Address — 
Another Cointy Fair Campaign — Substitutes Reading of 
Freight Rates for Roll Call. 



O 



Kl )l.\ AKI I.V. for a year f()!lo\vin*r a legislative ses- 
sion, tunes are "(lull." politically speakin«r, in a state. 
Periods of exeitenu'iit are followed by corresponding 
periods of lassitude on the part of the public and fre- 
(juently a forward movement is followed by one of reac- 
tion in which all tin- advanced ground taken is lost. It 
is one of the less(»iis of history, emphasizing the impor- 
tance of eternal vigilance. But Wisconsin was not per- 
mitted to atTord such illustration during the LaFollette 
regime. For a decade the state was to be practically a 
political armed camp. Tiie teeming brain, the tireless 
energy and the unwearied will of LaFollette permitted 
of no cessation in his eager crusade. 

Scarcely had the session of 1J)0;^ closed with its di-awn 
battles before the governor was again stirring his propa- 
gandic leaven and giving new concern to the opposition 
by indications that he would again lead his forces in 
person, even in the face of the third-term precedent for 
no one liiit military-hero governors. 

Karly in the summer he accepted an invitation to 
speak at the assembly at Lake Chautauqua, N, Y., and 
there ffave a strong and vigorous address, setting forth 
his doctrines and reciting his exjieriences in his own 
state. The legislative contest in Wisconsin had attracted 
attention far beyond the state and this address was 



Reaoixg of Freight Rates 277 

awaited with much interest as the keynote of his next 
campaign, if one was to follow. 

The governor's first word in Wisconsin, following the 
session, was spoken at the Monona Lake Assembly at 
Madison, July 30, a strong and exhaustive address deal- 
ing with the legislative and political situation in the 
state. In this address he created a state sensation by 
charging that legislation was defeated in the session 
of 1901 through bribery and that the attempted use of 
money was ' ' susceptible of proof. " / A great protest was 
raised in the stalwart press over the speech, with a 
mighty demand upon the governor to "produce the 
proof." The Wisconsin State Journal treated the ad- 
dress with ridicule, saying in part : 

Then Mr. Chynoweth (who introdueed the governor) threw a 
tremor in liis voice as he referred to ' ' Representative Government. ' ' 
"He stands for it," said he (suggestion of applause from some 
families who had driven in;) "he believes in it"; (gathering 
volume of applause) ; "he has sacrificed himself for it"; (a man 
from Paoli cried "Hooray" at this point) ; "he has done much" 
and (in a voice full of significance) "he will do more." 

At this some honest country people who thought they detected 
in Mr. Chynoweth a true son of the soil clapped their hands to 
beat the band, and all the time the governor looked sadly on the 
earth. It recalled Abraham Lincoln looking out thoughtfully on 
the Potomac at midnight during the worst stress of the civil war 
— the patient burden-bearer of the people. 

It soon appeared that it was the same old sjjeecli l)eginning, 
' ' The basic j^rineiple, etc. ' ' 

Of this State Journal story the Milwaukee Free Press 
said : 

Dr. Amos P. Wilder, editor of the State Journal, sat and 
chatted with Senator John M. Whitehead through the speech. A 
State Journal reporter, George Perham of Racine, wrote a faithful 
report of the meeting, giving the governor credit for making a 
notable address. This report was glanced at by ' ' Dr. ' ' Wilder 
and he immediately "threw a fit." "This won't do, Perham. 
Neva' do. I'll touch this off myself," said "Dr." Wilder, or 
something to that effect, and he wrote the purported humorous 
report of the speech which appeared in the evening Madison ])ai)er. 



278 La Foi.i.ETTK 's WrsNiNo or Wisconsin 

This account the ^tate Jutinial ioilowed with an edi- 
torial entitled, "Peanuts and Hysterics." Typical of 
the stalwart tone of the time, a portion of it may be 
reproduced : 

We say to tlic Lakeside audience which listened to the smooth 
and insidious scandalmongering of this French wizard that we 
would in preference trust our last dollar or dearest interest with 
any of the men mentioned above — rascals all, according to La- 
Follette's reasoning. • • • 

We for one yirotest. The men of Wisconsin will never get 
more faithful, honest, loyal representatives in the senate than 
some of these men LaFollette attempted in his Lakeside speech 
to pass off as "corporation hirelings." It was his most daring 
feat of oratorical deception; the districts in which these libeled 
senators and assemblymen live and where they are known must 
be amazed and disgusted. 

This is a delirium that will soon pass away. An era of sense 
and justice must return. Wisconsin has had enough of LaFol- 
lettoism. Surely, all real reform is not done by black-haired orators 
who practice elocution before the groundlings until calm delibera- 
tions of skilled, sensible but plain-talking men seem focdisliness. 
• • * Even the mysteries of Herrman and Keller will not stand 
iudefinite exploitation. IIow much longer will Governor Bob's 
awful warnings, genial arm rubs and secret negotiations stand 
the wear and tear of publicity and familiar use? * » * 

We, for one, are sick of fireworks, of dramatics, of sleight-of- 
hand. We hunger and thirst for something genuine and real. 
We long for the re-enthronement of a governor in this state on 
whom one may call on public business without first the scenes being 
»et, the red tire being made ready, the electric shock machine 
charged for the country trade. We are tired of the monarchy 
of one-man power without even a nobility in the second rank. 

The closinp sentence of this editorial serves to recall 
that one of the general complaints with reference to the 
jfovernor was his stronp: and constant insistence upon his 
own views and plans. This characteristic is, however, 
common to true reformers. They see but the goal, and 
whatever stands in the way must be sacrificed. It proves 
the zeal and (jualities of firmness essential to succeed. 
On this point the Chicayu Trihuuc said: 



Reading of Fuioigiit Rates 279 

He was amlntious to have Wisconsin control its railways and 
to be the man to cause Wisconsin to control the railways. He 
wanted to have it done and he wanted to do it himself. This is 
his main fault. He wanted to do it himself. He would rather 
do it himself than have anybody else do it. Out of such faults 
are successful, effective statesmen made. 

Invited to give the labor day address at Beloit, the 
governor precipitated another storm of criticism by de- 
claring in his discussion of the trust question that in the 
past six years the wages of factory workers in Wisconsin 
had increa.sed on the whole only about ten per cent, while 
the co.st of living had increased about twenty-sevon per 
cent in the same time. It was practically the first public 
sounding of the "high-cost-of -living" note later to be so 
familiar and the governor was roundly abused for thus 
stirring up a feeling of discontent calculated to follow 
such statements, particularly since Beloit had just passed 
through the experience of a big labor strike. Under the 
editorial caption, "A Dangerous Man," the MUxcankee 
Sentinel denounced the governor roundly for his "in- 
cendiary" practices. A long discussion followed in the 
state press over the correctness of the governor's state- 
ments, with Carroll D. Wright, the government statis- 
tician, being liberally quoted on both sides. 

Although this was not a campaign year so great was 
the feeling caused by the governor's address that Senator 
John M. Whitehead, the stalwart leader, replied to it in 
a speech at Beloit two weeks later, in the course of which 
address he made the interesting statement, among others, 
that the stalwarts had succeeded in organizing the sen- 
ate in 1901 by making Senator McGillivray president pro 
tern in return for support for Senator "Long" Jones, 
stalwart, for caucus chairman. Jones had accordingly 
been elected and the senate committees were organized 
as the stalwarts desired. McGillivray, by the way, en- 
tered vigorous denial of the Whitehead statement which 
brought other senators into the controversy, among them 



L'Htl l.Al'oLhETTE'.S WlNXlNti OK Wl.sCONSlN 

W. il. llatiDii (tl' New I^undon. who said WliitrlR'ad Avas 
in tilt' main i-orrei't. 

MflJiilivray. hy the way. was one of the picturesque 
characters of the LaFoUette leijislatures, an ardent, ag- 
prrssivc supporter of the «rovernor during his first years 
of service, hut later one of his most vigorous opponents. 
Witli a eertain llueney of speech and dramatic fervency, 
he combined a voice of remarkable volume. As the 
mountaineers (if Kentucky and Tennessee can tell their 
noighl)ors for miles around by the rei)orts of their guns, 
so tht'ir fellow legislators freciuently needed but to enter 
the corridors of the capitol to know that McGillivray or 
Senator llndiudl had the fioor. 

(»ne morning on coming to the statehouse during the 
.session following the capitol fire the legislators were sur- 
prised to find a great network of ropes completely sur- 
roiinding the building. These had been stretched in the 
early nujrning under direction of McGillivray to show 
the outlines of the new capitol of which he had proposed 
the building. " .Mc(iillivra>' 's rope capitol"' thus fur- 
nished much material for pleasantry among the politi- 
cians. 

Goverrutr LaFollette did not charge wholesale bribery 
in the legislature, but he drove home the point that, as 
in mathematics, things ecpial to the same thing are equal 
to eacli other; so the men who through ])olitical spite. 
or joalou.sy or sympathy, or wiiatever the motive, voted to 
ends and elTects sought by bril)ery were ecjually guilty 
and dangerous. tli(»iigh not purchased, with the men 
actually bribed. 

Many of the incidents related here and elsewhere in 
this work may seem trivial or unimportant at this time, 
hut it is the testimony of bi(»graphers and historians that 
nothing having to do with unusual characters of history 
can be .said to be without possibh' interest to succeeding 
generations. 



Readixg of Frkioiii' Ratks 281 

The value of this attempted historical treatment of 
the times so soon after their close also may be questioned 
b}' many. Nearness usually makes a true perspective 
difficult. Yet for the particular purposes of this work 
it was begun none too soon. Much of the material herein 
contained could not be gathered today, so rapidly have 
death, removals, excitements of succeeding campaigns, 
changes of affiliation, and other factors, transformed con- 
ditions and obscured or obliterated the sources of original 
information. The dry legislative records, giving no 
word of debate, nor even the names of contending par- 
tisans, contain scarcely the slightest hint of the storms 
that have swayed the legislative chambers of the capitol 
or the significance of the political currents of the period. 
Save then for the aid of a contemporary press the his- 
torian of the remoter future would find but a meager re- 
flection of the human phases of anj^ state legislative 
period. But much beneath the surface of passing events 
escapes the press, nor is the press primarily interested in 
the continuity or philosophy of contemporary social 
phenomena. The historian of the future is thus placed 
under obligations to the contemporary gleaner who pre- 
serves, without presuming at too much discrimination, all 
available historical material, the seemingly ephemeral 
and substantial alike, until the enduring elements of all 
can be determined and given proper place in the struc- 
ture of a people's story. 

A round of count.y fair speeches by the governor fol- 
lowed, in the month of September, speeches of more than 
ordinary interest from the standpoint of political prac- 
tices because of the employment of a new factor in Wis- 
consin campaigning, the so-called reading of the freight 
rates. A political writer has said that LaFollette dis- 
played a quality nothing short of genius when he turned 
the simple reading of the roll call into an effective poli- 
tical weapon. The ability to rouse and maintain the 



282 LaFollette's Winning of Wisconsin 

interest of audience after audience in the reading of long 
and formidable tables of freight rates, however, seems 
a far more remarkable achievement, yet this was largely 
the agency through which the governor pressed on to 
another victory. The plan adopted was to present at 
each point where lie si)oke the freight rates applicable 
to that point and then compare them with the rates 
equidistant from Chicago or other points in Illinois and 
Iowa to prove that Wisconsin paid higher rates. 

Speeclies of this character were delivered at Plymouth, 
Appieton. Kau Claire, Madison, Evansville, Antigo, 
Hhinelandrr, LaCrosse, Chippewa Falls, and other places 
and proved a successful experiment. Ordinarily, sta- 
tistics and figures are repellent to an audience, but in 
these instances the interest of the hearers was held in 
spite of them. Tiie governor had an orator's trick of 
making even statistics musical. The significance of fig- 
ures lies in their highest denomination — hence he would 
shout "P"'ifteen million," for instance, and give the re- 
mainder "three hundred thirty-five thousand, two hun- 
dred fifty-seven dollars and fifteen- cents, " in a rapid 
liquid dimiiuH'iido, which not infrequentl}'' raised a 
laugh. 

Hut it was not from the iiolitical platform alone that 
LaFollette gave his attention to the railroads. At the 
legislative .session of 1903 a law had been enacted pro- 
viding for an examination by the railroad commissioner 
into the books and accounts of the railroad companies to 
a.scertain if the railroads had been reporting the full 
amount of their returns on which they paid license fees to 
the state. While this work was in progress Governor 
LaFollette. on February 10, 1904, directed Railroad 
Commissioner Thomas, in connection with his investiga- 
tion jnto tile subject of back taxes, to report the names of 
all persons to whom the railroads under investigation had 
issued passes in IHO:! and duriiiir Jamiary and February, 



RiCADixti OF Fkkigiit Ratios 283 

1904. It might be remarked here that in spite of the 
legislation of 1899 the railroad pass died hard. Many 
persons continued to obtain and use it through one sub- 
terfuge or another. When, therefore, the governor di- 
rected the investigation toward the subject of passes lie 
placed his finger upon a tender spot. xVnd it maj' here 
be said that the state did not obtain the names — e^O'ept 
from some of the smaller roads — as it had not then the 
specific authority to force the information. Whether or 
not the larger roads had agreed to refuse the request of 
the state is not known. President Hughitt of the Chi- 
cago & Northwestern road stated that he was willing to 
give the desired information for his road providing the 
other roads would do likewise. President Earling of 
the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul road, however, was 
obdurate. On March 23, 1904, he addressed a com- 
munication of some length to Commissioner Thomas in 
which he exchanged legal thrusts with the governor. 
Governor LaFollette had declared that such information 
was pertinent to the inquiry to determine if the railroads 
had reported fully the gross earnings on which they 
were paying a four per cent license fee. President Ear- 
ling said that the law required the railroad commissioner 
to report to the state treasurer the total "gross receipts" 
of the roads, but that passes, mileage books, etc., could 
not be considered as earnings. He held that the names 
of persons to whom passes had been issued were "obvi- 
ously irrelevant to any legitimate inquiry." He was 
willing to aid in reporting gross earnings, "but your 
present request at the demand of the governor," he said, 
"is so clearly improper that I must respectfully decline 
to comply therewith." The "Soo" officials presented 
the list of passes given by their road, but refused to per- 
mit any record to be made of them, holding there had 
been no violation of the law as none had been issued to 
public officials or candidates, the only ones receiving 
them being officials and employes of the road. 



2»4 LaFullktte's Winning of Wisconsin 

The state fiiiiilly al)aii(lon('(l the attempt to obtain this 
information, but in the legislative session of 1905 a law 
was enacted requiring all railroads to file their lists of 
pass(^ with the state. Other legislation making clearer 
the law also was enacted. 

. With the pass, by the way, another cherished institu- 
tion was to be consigned to the limbo of things that were 
(luring the LaFollcttc regime. This was the newspaper 
mileage book. Previous to LaFoUette's time the rail- 
roads had been liberal to newspaper men and their fam- 
ilies, who were generally able to ride "free," not only 
within the state, but throughout the whole country. 
Editorial junketing tri|)s. not only individually, but in 
parties, to Florida, California or New York, were a gen- 
eral and genteel privilege of the craft. Of course the 
newspapers in return carried time tables and other ad- 
vertising of the roads "free" and generally conserved 
tlu' interests of the roads otherwise. 

With the enactment of anti-pass legislation the LaFol- 
lette administration took the position that consistency 
demanded that advertising be recognized as an expense 
item and that transportation issued therefor could not be 
withheld in statements of gross earnings. Commissioner 
Thoma.s reported that in the seven years between 1897 
and ]904 the railroads had issued $986,728 worth of 
transportation in Wisconsin, which under the four per 
cent license fee shouM have brought into the state treas- 
ury $39,469.12 in taxes, liuh'r the new ruling the rail- 
roads were obliged id p;iy for their advertising and tlic 
newspaper men to pay for tlieir rides; tiie cherished ad- 
vertising mileage book disappeared and the tears of 
editorial households were long undried. 

Naturally these addresses were not without incident. 
At the Dane county fair at Madisdu whei-e the gov- 
ernor spoUe September .'i. .Madison stalwarts attempted 
to create prejudiei' jiirainst him bv sccretlv flooding 



RiCAUlXG OF P^'uiaGlIT RATES 285 

the grounds before he spoke with anoiiymous circulars 
headed "Governor LaFollette's Reforms." The cir- 
culars contained cartoons and newspaper clippings, re- 
cited the school book charges and other political history 
and advised his hearers to "make a note of his figures, 
remember the names of the men he denounces and look 
up the records yourself." A warning shot was given 
the governor in conclusion by quoting Lincoln's words. 
"You can fool some of the people all of the time," etc. 

The governor spoke from a wagon standing in a broil- 
ing sun. He was introduced by S. L. Sheldon, president 
of the Dane County Agricultural Society, who, how- 
ever, appeared to have temporarily forgotten the name 
of his famous townsman and near neighbor, so that it 
became necessary for a bystander to audibly inform him 
that the name of Wisconsin's executive was "LaFol- 
lette. " Here also formidable statistical tables were read. 

Commenting on the speech the State Journal said : 
"The crowd was slim and the applause thin. The spell 
is broken in Dane county." 

With the public mind so inflamed there were natur- 
ally sharp divisions in certain county fair directorates 
over the (juestion of inviting the governor to speak. The 
stalwart press said the governor and his men forced 
themselves upon fair managements, and it denounced the 
practice of mixing the exhibits with politics, saying it 
would prove destructive to the fairs, although the gov- 
ernor was a strong drawing card. Especially was there 
protest against inviting him to the interstate fair at 
LaCrosse. This meeting, where he spoke to ten thousand 
people, had a number of incidents. The governor was 
met at the station by a brass band and a big delegation 
of prominent citizens and fair officials. As the parade 
set out for the fair grounds a carriage containing Post- 
master E. W. Keyes and family of Madison swung in 
from a side street in front of it. The judge thus finding 
himself heading the parade ordered his driver to whip 



2S6 I^aFom-ktte's WiNNixci or Wisconsin 

up tin- horses, but the animals were already tired and as 
the rarriapes behind were hurrying to get the governor 
to the grounds on time the judge's driver made no gain. 
Here then the grand old man of Wisconsin stalwartism 
found him.self leading a Roman holiday procession in 
honor of LaFollette with a brass band in full blast behind 
him. lilock after block they went Avith no chance to 
escape. When they finally arrived at the fair ground 
gates the judge relinquished the advantage of immediate 
admission and drove to one side, preferring to take the 
dust of the half breeds to continue loading the procession 
into the grounds. 

There were many interruptions at this meeting. Once 
when the governor declared there was no politics in rail- 
way regulation someone in the crowd called out: 

"^)h. yes, there is." 

"Well, not to me," replied the governor. "No cam- 
paign will end this so far as I am concerned so long as 
I have breath left in my body." 

Again something of a stir was produced when the gov- 
ernor read a letter sent him by a United States senator 
saying it was impossible to enlarge the powers of the 
interstate commerce commission because the railroads 
owned too many United States senators. 

From LaCrosse Governor LaFollette transferred to 
f'fdar Rapids, Iowa, to speak in the evening at a Metho- 
dist conference. In his merciless arraignment at this 
meeting «)f recreant public officials the governor occa- 
sionally drew forth a fervent "amen." The next day 
he was sharply criticized in the stalwart press for thus 
playing on the credulity and feelings of long-whiskered, 
innocent old men and inviting nervous breakdown on 
their part. 

Thus drew toward its close the iiicmonible year of 1903 
with the issues clarifying and the battle lines forming for 
the great final struggle between the old and the new 
orders which all recognized was impending. 



CHAPTER XX 
The Decisive Year of 1904. 

Annus Mirabilis in State History — Campaign That Deter- 
mined Issue or Popular Government in Wisconsin — "LaFol- 
letteism" Overshadows All Other Questions — Stalwart 
Lack of Leadership — Baensch Announces Candidacy — Early 
Incidents of Year — -Barber-Sturtevaxt Letters — Burning op 
Capitol — Administration Seeks Defeat of Congressman Bab- 
cock — Significant Supreme Court Election. 

In WISCONSIN political history the year 1904 stands 
as the annus mirabilis. It was to mark the "farthest 
north ' ' of the later confederacy opposed to the new move- 
ment and determined to maintain its privileges. In the 
intensity of the passions aroused, in desperate, relent- 
less, dramatic warfare no other campaign in the state's 
history approximates this one. For a year preceding its 
close dramatic events trod one another's heels. The 
entire state was rent in twain and every political party 
disrupted over the burning issue of "LaFoUetteism. " 
It has been estimated that a half million dollars was 
spent in the state in that period for the defeat of LaFol- 
lette. That the sum was something enormous is gen- 
erally admitted. According to the admission of a sworn 
witness, the Hill interests of Minnesota alone sent many 
men into the state to help in the fight upon the gov- 
ernor. In the great battle waged that year was finally 
settled the issue of popular government in WLscon- 
sin. Reforms have come easily since the way was then 
blazed through fire and blood, as it Avere, to ultimate 
victory. A governor's message with a score of proposi- 
tions, any one of which ten years ago would have raised 
a storm of protest and denunciation, now creates scarcely 
a ripple in the puV)li(' iiiiiid. 



ogH LaKoI.I.KTTK 's WlNMS(J OF WISCONSIN 

In fai't it may almnsi h.- said that tlierc has been no 
"polities" in Wisconsin sinee this memorable campaijrn. 
While at times there has been no little apparent excite- 
nuMit it has been lar-rely of a manufactured eharaeter; 
the interested politicians, not the people, have been ex- 
ercised. Tlicre has been no stirring of the depths of the 
electorate. This is indicated by a study of the votes cast 
in the elections of the past decade and a half. The offi- 
cial total vote on jrovernor in the successive elections 
during; that period follows: 

VtiTt: ON Ck)VP:RXOR 

I'.Mio 440.897 

llMl-J 365.643 

l!i(il 449.560 

1906 319.746 

1908 449.677 

i:»l(i 319.462 

]!irj 393,651 

!:•] 1 325,430 ' 

It will thus be seen that in onh' one election, that of 
the presidential year of 190.S, has the vote of 1904 been 
exceeded, and then only by the paltry excess of 117. 
On the other hand, the population of the state increased 
264..sl,s ii, the deeaile from 1900 to 1910, the total in 
1!»00 beinp 2.069.042 and in 1910. 2,333,860. At the 
same rate of frrowth the increase in population from 1900 
to 1915 would l)c about 462.000. At the j;enerally ac- 
cepted averajre of one voter in every five of population 
this increase should have added 92.400 to the votinjr 
.strength of the state. In round numbers the voting loss 
from 1!>00 to 1914 was 115.000. If to this be added the 
!t2.400 new votes the stay-at-home vote in 1914 will be 
found to have been over 17S.000. 

The Htory of the jrreat tight of 1!)04 has been told over 
and over aifain. in tu'wspaper and magazine articles, in 



The Decisive Yeau of 1904 289 

briefs of attorneys and in hundreds of pages of testimony 
and affidavits before courts and political committees — 
the legal proceedings alone covering over 1,200 pages — 
yet many interesting phases and incidents of it have 
never been recorded. 

Had LaFollette, in observance of precedents, retired 
at the end of his second term his long ten-year fight might 
have been largely for naught. The primary bill had 
been passed, but there was a possibility of its defeat at 
the polls ; the rate commission and maximum freight bills 
had been killed ; the ad valorem bill had been enacted, 
but there was no bar to an increase of rates to defeat the 
ends of the law. In a new governor and a new legisla- 
ture the opposition saw a possibility of defeating all 
LaFollette 's agitations. 

It was the determination of the governor again to be 
a candidate that made inevitable the mighty struggle of 
that year. It was a critical time for LaFollette, follow- 
ing the adjournment of the legislature in 1903. He fully 
realized the great fight that would be waged against him 
in case he sought a third term. He knew that his enemies 
would make much of the fact that it would be the sixth 
time he was making a bid for the nomination and the 
fifth time for himself, and would urge that it was ''time 
he took a back seat and gave someone else a chance." 
While unable to prevent his nomination in 1900 and 
again in 1902, they had succeeded in so far defeating 
most of the measures which he had championed. They 
now expected to see him retire from the field and cease 
to be a thorn in their sides. That done, they believed 
they could continue to hold the legislature, prevent the 
enactment of any more of his agitations and if he could 
be barred from the seat in the United States senate held 
by Joseph V. Quarles, to which it was suspected he 
aspired, it was thought he might be made a political 
"back number" for years. To that end a supreme effort 

19 



.jt. LaFollette 's Winning of Wisconsin 

was now determined upon for the retention of Quarles 
and the election of a governor and legislature that would 
be "safe." The two-term precedent it was felt would 
be a difficult argument to meet. True, Governors Fair- 
child and Rusk had each been elected a third term, but 
they were popular idols, old soldiers with peculiar ele- 
ments of popularity. No one else had ever had the 
temerity to ask for a third term and there had hitherto 
been practically no third term sentiment or precedent 

lUit with characteristic blindness the opposition had 
simply paved the way for LaFollette 's continued ad- 
vancement./ Had his opponents permitted the enactment 
of the measures which he urged LaFollette probably 
would have retired at the end of his second term and in 
two years of retirement to private life might have lost 
nuich of his prestige and weakened his chances for the 
senate. As it was, they simply gave him a new issue 
with which to remain before the people, and LaFollette 
was shrewd enough to know that nothing succeeds before 
an electorate like an issue. /It had always been his line 
of battle. When storms had raged the fiercest about his 
head, when ridicule, vituperation and charges of official 
misconduct filled the press and flew the thickest around 
him, he, to the wonder of many, seldom descended to 
notice or explain them, scarcely ever interjected a per- 
sonality, but rather held clear-eyed to the issue in hand 
and pressed it relentlessly home. This course proved his 
I)olitical sagacity. It had not only the effect of magnify- 
ing his own issue, but left the charges of his enemies, 
undignified by notice, to wither and be buried in the 
(low of his argument. His had always been a positive 
campaign ; that of his enemies too often a negative. They 
had not tlie wisdom to meet issue with counter-issue. 

So again it was given LaFollette to astound his ene- 
mies by doing the unexpected, by taking the course they 
neitlier expected nor desired him to follow. He mav not 



The Decisive Yi.i.\r of 1904 291 

himself have anticipated that out of his very defeat he 
was to snatch a greater victory than any earlier success 
could have given him. There was, however, but one 
consistent course now open. He had set out with the 
zeal of a Jesuit, with a definite end in view, that of writ- 
ing upon the statute books of the state certain reforms 
which in his clear vision he saw the interests of the whole 
people demanded. In the main these had so far been 
defeated. To abandon them now would not only have 
been the highest cowardice, but a confession of defeat, a 
desertion and betrayal of the people, perhaps the digging 
of his own political grave. A smaller or weaker man 
would have yielded the fight to other hands, given over 
to the compromises or overtures of the enemy or feath- 
ered his own nest with some lucrative, if more obscure, 
position. 

Conscious of the fact that the third-term idea was not 
popular, it was yet realized by the governor that he far 
more than any other man was the incarnation of his 
principles ; it was essential to their success that he again 
be a candidate; he alone had the courage, the resource- 
fulness, the prestige, the popularity, to carry them 
through to success. Furthermore, he had, so far, largely 
failed and he was not of the mettle to turn his hand from 
the plow and ingloriously surrender the principles for 
which he and his element of the party had so long con- 
tended. It was equally necessary that a legislature of the 
right kind be elected. All things conspired to make 
plain that the line of duty and expediency was to con- 
tinue the fight so well begun and make another appeal 
to the people. 

But, as has been said, the governor and his friends 
realized the great crisis ahead and the great odds they 
would have to meet. This would be the final and the 
greatest effort of the opposition to unhorse him. Not 
only would the great bulk of the wealth of the state be 



292 I.aFoi.i-ette's Winning of Wisconsin 

tlinnvn in the balance against him, but the railroads 
wouUl turn in with their enormous power. The metro- 
politan press, almost without exception, was on "the 
otiuT side" and many of the smaller papers of the state 
remained true to the stalwart subsidy. Many friends, 
too, would doubtless weary of the long fight and take a 
passive, if not hostile, stand relative to its continuance. 
Finally, there was the powerful influence of the federal 
machine, Avitii two United States senators, several con- 
gressmen, and an army of five thousand federal employes 
of the state, postmasters, revenue collectors, court offi- 
cials, etc., nearly all of whom would take the field ac- 
tively against him, as they had been picked for years 
with the end in view of building up an organization that 
would destroy that of the governor. It was a combina- 
tion to daunt any but the stoutest heart. LaFollette had 
little behind him but his burning faith and his clarion 
voice. He had the prophetic vision, however, to see that 
an awakening was impending in America, in bringing 
about which he was to prove one of the most potential 
pioneers. The people were rising to a new conception, 
and a new exercise of their political prerogatives. As if 
paraphrasing the old saying relative to the making of 
the laws and the songs of a nation, he cared not what 
course the opposition followed if he could but gain the 
ear of the common people. Tie realized that for every 
one in purple and fine linen arrayed against him there 
were ten sons of ]\Iartha serving with their hands, and 
if of meaner elay they were yet presumably made in the 
image of Cod and guaranteed under the constitution an 
e(iual right at the polls with the most imperious bene- 
ficiary of privilege. He had faith that the ten would 
sustain liini if they could be made to see the light and 
were given a free hand. To borrow a later phrase, "his 
faith in the hewers of wood and drawers of water was 
elemental." 



The Decisive Yeak of 1904 



293 



Yet, many of his good friends sought to dissuade the 
governor. They pointed out what a campaign of educa- 
tion was imperative to success. ' * Besides, all the money 
in the state is against us, ' ' said one timid follower, * ' and 
we, as usual, have nothing." 

"Oh, no, it isn't all against us," replied the hopeful 
governor; "there are lots of honest wealthy men who 
will be with us, as you will see. Besides, what haven't 
we done in the past without money? That should be 
an earnest for the future. You know there is nothing 
that will put a man on his mettle like playing poker 
short of cash." 

The administration was not long in determining upon 
its course. Its extraordinary forehandedness is seen 
in the fact that as early as August 7, 1903, the writer 
of this work printed an inspired newspaper story to the 
effect that Governor LaFoUette had already planned a 
comprehensive coup for the following year which in- 
cluded his candidacy for a third term, the holding of the 
next state convention in May — two months earlier than 
usual, and again in Madison, — and the holding of 
caucuses for the election of delegates as early as Febru- 



PROMINENT FIGURES IX CAMPAIGNS 1900-04 




294 I-aFoli.ette's Winning or Wisconsin 

ary. Tarty precedent ^vas to be further overturned by 
combining in one convention the nomination of candi- 
dates for state (iffices and the election of delegates to the 
national convention. It is interesting to note that this 
was the identical i)r(»Lrraiii later carried out. The article 
follows : 

TU CAl'TCRE STATE DELEGATION NEXT 



This the End Now Sought by the Administration 



EARLY STATE CONVENTION IS PLANNED 



May Be Held iii May ainl Again in Madison That the Governor 

May Have Freer Hand in Directing Proceedings — Gumshoe 

Peoide Not Making Much Noise but Quietly Working. 



Governor LaFollette is not going to take a rest. He is now on 
a round of Cliautaui|ua addresses throughout the country which 
will take him as far east as Maryland and on his return will start 
on a series of county fair talks, speaking in every section through- 
mif the stat<'. 

That he has planned a gigantic coup for next year is not to be 
floubted. The plan now under consideration, said a prominent half 
breed in the capitol, is the capture of the state delegation to the 
national convention next year, thus depriving the stalwarts of the 
prestige such victory would give them. Each congressional district 
will send two delegates, and it is probable that these will be elected 
in Januarij or Fcbruaii/. This will be the first test of strength. 
Then it is planned to elect the four at large from the state at the 
same time the state ofliccrs are nominated. To t'>is end the state 
convention is to l)c held earlier than usual, probahlii in Mai/, and 
affain in iliuliiii»i that the governor may have a freer hand in 
dominating the gathering. The governor is to he a caiididatt 
again and wjiile many are urging him to contest the scat of Senator 
Quark's, tin- majority df his friends want to see him elected gov- 
ernor again, nn<l liis reforms inaugurated, if possible, leaving the 
.senatorshiji tn the futiin . 

In the same issue of Augu.st 7. 1003, the Stoic Journal 
under the editorial caption "Let's Fight With Clubs" 
had(leclHn'd aggressive war f)n LaFollette's new designs, 7 
saying: - 



The Decisive Ykak ok 1904 295 

The Sentinel is said to be operated on the principle that it is a 
mistake to advertise LaFoUette too much. This theory should be 
discarded at once. Governor Bob has passed the point where he 
fears neglect. The only way to dislodge him is to take him by 
the rhetorical seat of the pants and throw him down hard. Make 
it clear that he fattens on trouble. Every man with a dollar saved, 
with a business, a home paid for, a farm part paid for, should 
beware the success of LaFolletteism. The iron has entered his 
soul and prosperity acts on him like a red rag on a bull. 

A great weakness of the stalwart cause was its lack oi' 
able, inspiring leadership. In this respect it contrasted 
pitifully with the movement led by the magnetic LaFol- 
lette. Especially was it lacking in available candidates 
for public favor to pit against the aggressive governor. 

The leaders finally came to a sort of agreement upon 
Judge Emil Baensch of Manitowoc for the candidate for 
governor in the coming campaign. Baensch was a Ger- 
man-American editor, honest, of high abilities, but lack- 
ing in needed qualities of leadership. He had served a 
term as lieutenant governor. His political weakness at 
this stressful time when all red-blooded thinking men 
were taking positions was revealed in the fact that he was 
heralded as a non-factionalist. free from any embarrass- 
ing alliances. He was to be a " harmony ' ' candidate and 
as early as December 10, 1903, he announced his candi- 
dacy with the plea : "Let us have a new alignment that 
will stamp out factionalism. There are no irreconcilable 
differences. Our greatest concern today should be the 
unification of the party." 

Former Congressman Samuel A. Cook of Neenah, also 
soon entered the field as a "harmony" candidate, but 
the general feeling was that the Baensch and Cook forces 
would eventually unite. / Cook was a wealthy lumber- 
man, a self-made man with many attractive qualities, but 
not fitted to lead an aggressive fight. 

The defeat of the governor was to be brought about, if 
possible, through the caucuses. Hence, it was deter- 



•Jl»tl 



LaKollktik's WiNNMNd or Wisconsin 



minod to ort^ani/c »'v.tv .•ouiity aj,'ainst him. To carry 
out this elahoratc cainpai^Mi a committee of seven was 
aniiouiK'od by .Iml<;»' llactisoh January 14. lloailinij: tliis 
committee was Philip L. Spooner of iMadison, brother of 
Senator Spooner; the other members being S. A. Peter- 
son of Riee Lake, forrrter state treasurer; G. B. CUement- 
son of Lancaster, S. F. Mayer of West Bend, C. E. Brady 
of Manitowoc, Otis W. Johnson of Racine, J. B. Treat 
of Monroe, M. B. Kosenberry of Wausau, J. L. Sturte- 
vaiit of Waupaca and II. 11. -Morjian of ^ladison. A 
sub-ccMumittee of three, headeil by ]\Ir. Spooner. was di- 
rected to open headipiarters and establish a base of sup- 
plies in Matlison. OtTice rooms were engjaged in the 
Vroman block, a choice stock of cigars and Philipp's 
"Ked Book" on the railroads hiid in and a corps of 
clerks and stenographers set to work. 

A university student, Ralph B. Ellis, was engaged at 
$20 per week to furnish syndicate pictorial lampoons of 
the governor and tliil so well that orcUn-s were once ac- 
tually stMit out to stop the presses and throw out a ear- 
toon representing Governor LaFollette, with diabolical 
countenance, sticking a dirk under the fifth rib of "Miss 
Forward'" < Wisconsin V It was feared this was "too 
strcnig" and woidd react to the governor's advantage. 
The literary end of the committee was Mr. Sturtevant, 
then editor of a weekly paper at "Waupaca. Like most 
of the leading opponents of LaFollette. he was not a 
native of the state and had lived in it but a few years, 
so knew little of its traditions and temper. The dangers 
of LaFollctteism. it was said, had dawned upon him 
about the time of the formation of the so-called "eleventh 
story league." 

The new dispensation to oppressed mankind, remarked 

A wag at the time, was not to sutfer the haiulieap of the 

Koran of Mahomet in having to be first transcribed on 

\ the shoulder blades of sheep. No./ it was to have an up- 



pr^>. ; the ofjiy pr^^A of r . ih*: city,, and c^ipahlft 

of fcuch Hp':d thAt wh/;n i>?t out t/> it* full t'/At'i:*h Vtmlt 
it wouM run off th« full edition rrf th« paper before it 
ryinI/1 be stopped. Thisj new offieial or^an wa>. the W^it- 
connn State Journai at ^fadiv/n, 

P'or ^1>//J th>: committee v/a* to have fre>e mring it 
tt« columns until the caur;ti«e« in Dane eotinty were all 
';ver. Old Dane was to be the jrreat sstrate^ic prize. If 

nat could b*; t^aken from rjnder the j?overnor it wa» be- 
lieved many other c.Ofsntl'f'. y,f)'i\'i fall hi I'lnf, hnd Tf.- 
\)\iA'viXft the prophet v.-ithout ho.'or at bom.e. 

Th« Jmdden and a^^re«eive arrtivity of the HtaU Jour- 
ruil at thh time \(A the aAmhsl'if.rHtlrm Uj i^nie an ei^ht- 
patfc p^.mpr.>;t entitled "Mr. Wilder a'S a Pl^in Kf^t'ih- 
lican and Dr. Wilder ass a .St.;ailwart," for vfKvth publica 
tion Charles G. Riley of Madijson stood Kponjs^ir. The 
pamphlet was on the "denAly parallel" order in whidi 
the .V'f'K^'; Jfji.roaVti earlier endor-s^ifment and htnihit'ym 
f)i LaFol.'r'V: -. hUTtfi'mtUif-.ntA and course in ^jt/iTiHThl, ''be- 
fore the ^eat change came upoQ it, ' ' were pitted a?airj.«t 
its Later den uncJAtionis of the same things. Through this^ 
;.amphl/;t an editorial from Dr. Wilder'* pen returned to 
p.Uifue him sorely, as he had feared it might. The 
':0;roriaL, which appeared in the .S'^af^e Jmirnal in Sep- 

-rmber, 1903, cast an interesting light on the political 
tuation and read in part as foUows; 

xir';. Th^ «iror« axi-'i tfcreav 

'A \:.h <:..!.^h k . ' 7 j '■ ^Tr^:!^ i£v; 

^•■7'j*A T!-;*.? "V.?"? ■^"''r' ■:; Tbi-TTJ Ho-.' 



•J5IS J.aFollette's Winning of Wisconsin 

upon the lloor. I'lKlcrground couuections were made with Wash- 
ington and no stone was left unturned to unhorse the present man- 
aj;cnicnt. 

'J'liis editorial, by the way, had been written weeks be- 
fore it was printed and was read by the editor to certain 
members of his staff. "I am afraid to print it though." 
said Dr. Wilder. However, he was proud of its literary 
strenfrth and cleverness and one day in a moment of 
abaiulon he ordered it to run. Lord Beaconsfield once 
declared that he wrote a drama simply to lay the ghost 
of a story that was haunting him. The drama failing 
the ghost was laid. For a similar reason, no doubt, this 
editorial was printed, but the literary ghost in this in- 
stance was not to be kept down. Of the editorial Mr. 
Riley said in part : 

The Jounutl editor finally yielded although he does not tell 
us just what it was that did the business. We are left to con- 
jecture whether it was the vigorous rapping of Keyes ' cane or 
something in the letter that Hughitt wrote. Perhaps the learned 
doctor concluded to take the "things" which were "offered" him 
and which he ' ' sorely needed. ' ' Whatever it was Wilder ' ' before 
taking" and Wilder "after taking" jirinted in parallel columns 
would make interesting reading. 

Dr. Wilder himself never gave the reason for his 
"great change," but once intimated that it followed the 
spending of an evening at the executive residence. 

The Dane county committee having set the early date 
of April 18 for Dane county, fell in nicely with the stal- 
wart plans, as most of the caucuses would be held later. 
The committee demurred a little at paying $1,800. It was 
quite a sum for just one county and of course there would 
be a thousand other hoppers that would have to be filled. 
But the editor was a shrewd and obdurate Yankee. He 
would have liked to further the great cause gratuitously, 
he said, but he and the paper were both desperately hard 
up. Like Oxford, the paper had long been the home of 
lost causes, unpopular names and impossible loyalties, 
and had suffered aceordingly. He might as well, he 



The Decisivk Year of 1904 299 

said afterwards, have screwed his price up a few notches 
higher. The State Journal was also the official state 
paper at the time — the administration being obliged to 
promulgate through its columns everj'thing of an official 
character. It thus, humorously enough, became a sort 
of organ of both the administration and the opposition 
and drew tribute from each, a pla^'ing of both ends 
against the middle, which brought the usual embarrass- 
ment. A number of desperate efforts by the administra- 
tion to deprive it of its official pap, and even more desper- 
ate efforts by the paper to retain it, were among the not 
unamusing incidents of the administrations of the period. 

It was finally agreed that for the caucus campaign the 
paper was to have $1,800, but was to pay Martin AV. 
Odland. a young writer friendly to the league, $20 ;i 
week to go about the county and write up the towns and 
villages. Every famih' in the county was put on the 
free list while the pre-caucus campaign was on and was 
given such an education in anti-LaFolletteism as the local 
annals of partisanship had seldom known. / However, so 
far as Dane county was concerned, the elaborate house 
of cards so solicitously built was to fall. An obstinate 
electorate, charged with refusing to see the light, was 
to return but dust and ashes for all this effort. Scarcely 
a town or precinct in the whole county was to go over 
to the side of "conservatism." 

Odland, it may be here said, was one of the bright 
products from the Norwegian pioneer belt of South Da- 
kota who had been attracted to Wisconsin by Prof. J. G. 
Dow, a Scotch genius, who discovered him and drew him 
eastward with him. After a brilliant career at the Uni- 
versity of Wisconsin, Odland engaged some years in 
teaching, but his Norwegian love of fighting proved ir- 
resistible and he left the cramping atmosphere of the 
schoolroom for the more adventurous and stirring one of 
politics. By virtue of ideals, education and tempera- 



.,iM. L.\l"oi.i.KnK's WiNNixc; ok Wisconsin 

ment, he belonged in the camp of reform, to which after 
years of wandering in the desert he was ultimately to 
return. His county assignment was partly accidental, 
which suggests another incident. li was an unfinished 
work which had been undertaken by the paper a year or 
two before through Fred Sheasby, a beardless sapling, 
later a famous local sport and political writer. How- 
ever, while Sheasbj^ was in the midst of his bucolic per- 
egrinations there was a sudden demand for him at home. 
Sheasby, by the way, had "cut the cables" with head- 
(piarters, so the editor was perplexed as to how to reach 
the wandering boy. Finally a happy idea seized him. 
The next issue of the paper bore in conspicuous type on 
the middle of the front page this exhortation : "Sheasby, 
Come Home!" Advertising brings results, and Sheasby 
.soon reported at headquarters. 

Incidents, dramatic, serious, amusing soon came on 
apace. One of the most amusing episodes of the early 
period of the campaign was the exchange of the so-called 
Jiarher-Sturdevant correspondence. AV. E. Barber, 
editor of the LaCrosse Chronicle, desiring some data to 
use against the administration, wrote to Mr. Sturtevant 
of the stalwart committee at Madison asking for it. Be- 
cause of a similarity in names the letter fell into the 
hands of Attorney General L. M. Sturdevant, who could 
not resist the temptation to have some sport and turn 
the blunder to .some advantage of his side. Accordingly 
he wrot(> a sarcastic reply to the Barber epistle and then 
gave Ixilh letters to the Milwaukee Free Press, in which 
paper they were elaborately "played up" on the front 
page. 

The liarbcr letter follows; 

T.aCrosse, Wis., J.in. 7, 1904. 
Mr. Sturdevant, Mmlison, Wis. 

Dear Sir: The Chronicle is in need of some data wliioh, it 
Bcems to ine, you inif^ht be able to furnish us. We want to knovf 
how many jranie wardens there arc in tlie stat^, how many factory 



Thk Decisivk Ykak of 1904 301 

inspectors, how many oil inspectors, and how many other appointive 
officers in the state within the gift of the governor; also the 
amount of money paid them during the past year. We also want 
to know what the expense of running the state government has 
been during the past year. Write me immediately if you can 
furnish us this. If you cannot we must take some other course 
to get it, for we must have it. We are compiling a nice lot of cam-. 
paign material which will be very useful to the republicans when 
we get in the heat of the campaign and this material which we 
are asking for will furnish us with sufficient material in my judg- 
ment to make LaCrosse county safe and sure for the stalwarts. 
Yours very truly, 

W. E. Barbkk. 

THE REPLY 

Madison, Wis., Jan. 11, 1904. 
Editor LaCrosse Chronicle, LaCrosse, Wis. 

Your letter addressed to ' ' Mr. Sturdevant ' ' and in which you 
ask for the number of game wardens, oil inspectors, factory in- 
spectors, and other appointive officers within the gift of the gov- 
ernor, has been received. You say that you are compiling ' * a 
nice ' ' lot of campaign material ' ' and that it will furnish you with 
sufficient material to make LaCrosse county safe and sure for the 
stalwarts. ' ' In reply I will say that I have not in my possession 
the information whieli you ask. Hon. Henry Ovcrhcck, game 
warden, will be able to give you the number of his deputies; Hon. 
A. C. Backus, factory insiiector, and Hon. E. E. Mills, supervisor 
of inspectors of illuminating oils, will be able to give you the 
number of persons employed in their departments. Concerning the 
cost of the state government I would refer you to the secretary 
of state. 

I could, perhaps, by the outlay of some work, get this informa- 
tion for you, but as I am a republican and as I understand from 
your letter that your "nice lot of campaign material" is to bo 
used in an effort to disrupt and overthrow the republican party 
I would not wish to aid in any way. Mr. D. S. Rose of Milwaukee, 
a year or more ago, got together some campaign material quite 
similar to that which you desire and although not entirely correct, 
I presume it would answer your purpose quite as well as it did 
that of Mr. Rose. I understand that by making LaCrosse county 
sure for the stalwarts you mean that your county will send to the 
legislature assemblymen and a senator who can be relied upon to 
rei)Udiate the pledges of t]ie party and to serve the corporations. 
If my understanding is correct then in my opinion your cause is 



302 La Foi.LETTK 's Winning ok Wisconsin 

n most unworthy one and ought to meet with iuglorious defeat. 
I have g^iven your letter to the Milwaukee Free Press for publica- 
tion 80 that the iicoide of Wisconsin may know what are the real 
|iur|i08es of your ••harmony" campaign. 

Yours truly, 

L. M. Sturdevant. 

Tlie publication of these letters led to great and im- 
potent pna.sliin^r of teeth on one side and expansive and 
unrestrained mirtii on the other. There were sharp 
threats of prosecution of the attorney general under the 
postal laws on the charge of tampering with mail not 
atldre.ssed to him, but Mr. Sturdevant pointed out that 
wiiile the letter and envelope had been originally ad- 
dressed to "Mr. Sturtevant," yet they had been cor- 
rected to read Mr. 'Sturdevant" and tantalizingly asked 
"how was one to know for whom it was intended?" 
Anyway, if one's purposes and motives were honorable, 
he asked, why should one be ashamed of them or resent 
their exposure to the light of day ? It was apparent that 
the best way out of the embarrassment brought on by a 
blundering postal inidei-ling was to forget it, and the in- 
cident pa.s.sed into the accumulating store charged to ex- 
perience. But while knowledge came through such mis- 
haps wisdom yet lingered. 

One of the first ends souglit by the stalwart committee 
was to capture the student republican machinery of the 
university.^ LaFollette had always exercised a peculiar 
fa.scination over the ma.ss of the young men of that in- 
stituti(»n and miich of his political success had been due 
to the fact that he had been able to enlist under his ban- 
ner an ever-increasing host of brilliant, brainy and en- 
thusinKtic youth, the leavening of whose influence had 
penetrated to the remotest corner of the state. If the 
sHident body eouhl be made to give the appearance of re- 
pudiating or expressing a lack of confidence in the ad- 
ministration the moral efTect, it was believed, would be 
far-reaching. It would be presumed by many honest 



The Diccisivi: Ykak of 1904 303 

voters elsewhere that the university students, represent- 
ing the highest thought of the state, and, furthermore, 
being at the seat of government, would be safe guides to 
follow in voting. /'Accordingly it was announced that I 
the universit}^ republican club would be reorganized and I 
an election of officers held on January 9. Both factions/ 
then set to work industriously and each brought out a/ 
prominent football man as a candidate. The organiza-j 
tion of the administration forces was carried out mainly] 
by John M. Nelson, later congressman, at whose house; 
a number of meetings were held, and by M. B. Olbrich. 
H. H. Morgan and A. A. Meggett, a federal employe,, 
undertook to proselyte the field for the stalwarts. The! 
university was flooded with Roosevelt-Baensch circulars 
and much made of the fact that Judge Baensch was a 
distinguished alumnus of the university and entitled to 
the support of the students. /As the day of election ap- 
proached the excitement became something intense. Some 
of the classes were demoralized and the rivalry was 
nearly as strained as among the time-servers of the two 
camps down town. The result of the contest was the 
election of the LaFollette candidate by a vote of 585 to 
326. 

The year 1904 was destined to be replete with sensa- 
tions, political and otherwise. ^On the morning of Febru- 
ary 27 the citizens of Madison awoke to find the state 
capitol on fire./- The flames broke out iji the north wing 
at 3 o'clock and by daylight had spread to the east and 
west wings, threatening the destruction of the entire 
building. The local fire department worked to stem the 
progress of the flames until nearly noon when help ar- 
rived from Milwauk(^e. though too late to be of mueh 
value. The east and Avest wings were almost totally de- 
stroyed and portions of the north and south wings 
gutted. During the progress of the fire Governor La- 
Follette himself performed daring service. Donning a 



304 LaFollette's Winnmno of Wisconsin 

rubber coat and cap, he dashed in and out of the blazin<,'. 
flooded corridors, directing the rescue of records and 
books, and taking a hand wherever he could in fighting 
the progress of the flames. Among the treasures de- 
stroyed were the relics in the war museum, including 
many pictures and mementoes, and the body of Old Abe, 
the famous war eagle. 

The origin of the fire was never ascertained. It is be- 
lieved that the ceiling in one of the rooms on the second 
floor caught fire from a gas jet underneath. At any 
rate it was discovered liere by Nat Crampton. night 
watchman, and reported by him. 

It was generally felt that the destruction of the capitol 
would put a new phase on the political situation. Prac- 
tically the entire state press assumed that a special ses- 
sion of the legislature would be called at once to make 
appropriations for the immediate rebuilding of the state- 
house. In the first shock of the disaster partisanship was 
Bunk in state patriotism and the opposition press actually 
gave the governor a little credit for his brave attempt 
to save the building. But that shock over, they turned 
to see what political advantage could be reaped from it; 
to what extent it could be made to embarrass the admin- 
istration. The extra session they figured might be fruit- 
ful in disclosures, were an investigation made; it might 
result in a reprimand of the administration, in upheav- 
als; possibly the exigencies might be made to overshadow 
the LaFollette i.ssues and make them fall flat before the 
people, making easy the defeat of the governor for re- 
/ nominal ion. /-Much was made of the fact that the insur- 
ance on the building had been allowed to lapse by Gov- 
ernor LaFollette. LaFollette 's predecessor. Governor 
Scofield. at the .solicitation of "Dick" Main, of prominent 
stalwart connections, had placed a heavy insurance on the 
building, but LaFollette 's view was that the state should 
be able to protect itself and had allowed the policy to 



The Decisive Yeah of 1904 305 

lapse after the legislature of 1903 had enacted a law 
providing for state insurance of public buildings. 

Then there were other problems. Taking advantage 
of Madison's plight, the press of other cities began dis- 
cussing the advisability of attempting the removal of the 
capital from Madison. It was felt that Milwaukee might 
now make a successful bid for it. Plainly fate had un- 
expectedly come to the aid of the opposition by piling 
new embarrassments and troubles upon the governor. 

Considering all these things, LaFollette quickly de- 
termined on his line of action. He saw three things : 
first, that an extra session would be a great expense; 
second, that it might encourage Milwaukee to make re- 
newed efforts, perhaps successfully, to become the cap- 
ital; and third, that it might result in some unfavorable 
reflection on, if not hostile action toward, the administra- 
tion from the legislature. Political wisdom, at least, 
suggested that the plan to pursue was to minify the inci- 
dent. To forestall any move by Milwaukee, therefore, 
and to disarm his enemies, LaFollette resolved to avoid 
a special session, and to act under the authority vested in 
him and repair the building. However, the responsi- 
bility for the fire was laid up to LaFollette by his 
enemies, and to meet the criticism the state central com- 
mittee convened and issued a solemn statement that no 
blame could attach to the governor for the destruction of 
the building. 

Apropos of this action Wardon Curtis, a Madison 
author and wit, hit off the following imaginary conversa- 
tion: 

Well, I can't help thinkin' Bob Layfollett done a bad thing 
when he burned the eapitol down. He might have thought it 
would hurt the stalwarts, but I don't believe the people of the 
state will see it that way. 

Burn it down! Great Scott, man, what would the governor 
burn the eapitol down for? 

20 



306 LaFollette's Winning of Wisconsin 

What for? You tell me. I've been trying to figure it out for 
Bome time and can't make out why he done it. No, sir! what did 
he burn the capitol down for? 

« • • 

The way the delay occurred was this way. Crampton seen the 
fire and he started on a run to alarm the proper officials and he 
fell over one of the game wardens — 

Game wardens in the capitol, what for? 

Well, this one was the game warden that takes care of the 
squirrels in the capitol park. Crampton ])icks liiniself up and 
starts to running again and falls over another game warden — 

Game warden? Another game warden? I can understand the 
game warden for the squirrels, but what was this one for? What 
other game could there be around the cai)itol? 

If you ever seen any of them fifty-dollar jackpots you wouldn't 
nsk. Well, Crampton he picks himself uj) a second time and starts 
a-running and falls over another game warden — 

Third game warden? What would a third game warden be for? 

Governor 's game. 

Governor's game? 

Yep, governor's game. 

What on earth is the governor's game? 

Slicker fellers than you an' me is trying to find that out. Best 
heads in both factions is calculating on that. What is the gov- 
ernor's game? Does he want to be governor again? Does he 
want Quarles' place? Will he throw up the governorship if he 
gets it, or serve his term and run for the senate afterward? What 
is the governor's game? I'd like mighty well to know. 

• « • 

I notice that in sjiite of the many signs to the effect that there 
is danger in certain parts of the capitol, posted up on trees, that 
the governor and his friends walk right through as unconcernedly 
as can be. I tell you the governor is a man of nerve, — and his 
friends have their share of nerve, too. 

That ain't no lie under certain conditions. But don't you fool 
yourself about the governor being in danger walking around there 
in the capitol. He ain't in danger, and his friends ain't neither. 
But some folks would be in danger there all right enough. 

How do you make that out? 

Everyone of thorn fliaps working in there has orders if he sees 
a stalwart in the parts marked "dangerous" to drop a brick on 
his head. 

Come off! ^'olI don't believe tlint. How do vou know that? 



The Decisive Year of 1904 



307 




Political Cartoon, Suppressed bv State Journal, 1904 



30.»< l.Aroi.i.ETTK's Winning of Wisconsin 

Know It? Don't it stand to reason? You hot, 1 know it. If 
BosB Kcycs whouM walk in tliere the whole end wall would fall in. 

The charge hy llic Milwaukee Daily Neivs that Assist- 
ant Attorney General L. H. Bancroft was the holder of 
a railroad pass "was one of the many sensations of the 
time. Because of LaFollette's strong anti-pass declara- 
tions, this revelation in connection with one of his offi- 
cial family, .so to speak, was made much of by the opposi- 
tion. Later a similar charge was made again.st other 
officials in the attorney general's office. Bancroft finally 
(ifTercd the defense that he was entitled to snch pass as 
the local attorney of a railroad, but eventually he with- 
drew from the attorney general's force. 

In the furious pre-caucus campaign, bulldozing of the 
press was a recourse of the stalwart bosses. The writer, 
among others, was visited and informed that opposition 
leaders had sufficient influence with his newspapers and 
press as.sociations to bring about his removal as corre- 
spondent if he persisted in the kind of stories he was 
writing. This bulldozing practice was exposed by the 
Madison Di mocrat in a savage editorial in the course of 
the campaign, the Democrat, by the way, being then 
friendly to LaFollette. 

On April 14 the Democrat had carried a startling 
story reading in part: " 'Come In To ^ladison. Your 
Time Goes On. Report to Me— Eldridge.' This is the 
nu'.s.sago that flashed over the wires of the Milwaukee 
lines. It is the order which Superintendent Eldridge sent 
to all the men working und(M- him who could be spared, 
telling them to e(ime to Madison and there report to him, 
Mr. Mid ridge made plain the purpose of his visit. He 
told the men that '(Governor LaFollette had to be beaten ; 
that every one of them had to get out and work and carry 
the eaueuses of the city of ^ladison against him'; that 
' 'unless they did so they could sever their connection with 
the railroad, etc. ' " 



TiiK Dkcisive Yicar of 1904 309 

Chairman Spooner of the Baensch committee imme- 
diately sent the Democrat a letter expressing his "utter 
disgust" at the printing of such a story and promised 
that "the next legislature will be asked to investigate 
the state printing, ' ' and that the next secretary of state 
also would be asked to so interpret the printing contracts 
as to "restore the independence of the Democrat." 

Under the caption "Chairman Spooner 's Puerile 
Threat," the Democrat the following morning made a 
savage editorial rejply to this letter, saying in part: 

"The letter of Chairman Spooner to this paper is 
pretty conclusive proof that so far as his part in the con- 
test extends, it is devoid of worthy principle surely." 

Not since the roster scandal of a decade before had this 
somewhat proper sheet been so exercised. 

The administration, by the way, was quick to seize 
upon the Democrat's railroad story for political advan- 
tage. On April 18, the day of the Dane county repub-l 
lican caucuses, flaming circulars were issued carrying a| 
reprint of it, also setting forth that Madison owed noth-l 
ing to the railroads ; that the St. Paul depots were in- 
sults to the public, and that the Northwestern road.j 
which had reaped a great harvest in Madison, had re-| 
fused to place flagmen at dangerous crossings, until com- j 
pelled to do so by city ordinances, etc. The railroad,' 
employes were exhorted to be independent. The cir-1 
eulars concluded : 1 

It is right for the employe to take orders from his employer j 
respecting his work. It is wrong for him to take orders from his i 
employer respecting his ballot. Submit once and your sjiirit of J 
American independence is broken. Your own self-respect is gone, f 
The most precious right of American citizenship is manhood suf- 
frage. Do not surrender that right to any power on earth. : 

Caucuses Tonight from 5 to 8 o 'Clock. 
« • « 

Besides the rcnomination of LaFollette the scheme of; 
the administration included the ambitious undortakingj 
of the defeat of Congressman J. W. Babcook of the third] 



nio I.aFollette's Winnixi; of Wisconsin 

I .■ui.i;n-»i..i..ii district./ Althuugh he hail assisted in 
bringinj; about the nomination of LaFollette in 1900, 
Habcock had fiuickly abandnnod the frovernor when the 
latttT was found iinainenal)le to machine control and had 
been the most effective of the stalwart leaders in defeat- 
iuK the reform measures of the administration. In both 
(.f the Icfrislative sessions of 1901 and 1903 he had come 
from Washiiif^ton to Madison to direct the fight on the 
governor's bills. With Henry Casson of Madison, J. L. 
Sturtevant of Waupaca, and others, ^he had also been 
active in the summer and fall of 1903 organizing the 
fight to be made on LaFollette the following year, and 
had thus invited the fire of the administration's bat- 
teries. 

TIte plan of tlie adminstration was to bring out a 
("favorite son" to contest with Babcock for the delega- 
tion in each of the counties in his district, and then to 
unite this opposition at the convention. A handbook 
similar to the "Voters' Handbook" of 1902, exposing 
Babcock as a corporation servitor, was also issued. Among 
tlic many charges brought against the congressman in the 
haiidbo(»k was that of having loaded the mails with 
franketl material during the weighing season in order 
to give tlie raih'oads a heavy average on which to let 
mail contracts. 

Twenty tons of literature, it was charged, had been 
franked to the Baraboo district, making an increase of 
$96,0()() to the Xorthwe-stern road alone over its previous 
receipts. Even the affidavit of a Baraboo drayman to 
the effect that he had broken down his dray in attempt- 
ing to haul away three tons of the stuff was secured. 
Said one aijministration supporter afterwards: 

Oho cnrlond of re|>orts of the centennial exposition held in 
riiiladelpliin in ls76 was sent to Baral)00, besides quantities of 
other matter. This material was i)iled up in the postoffice, the 
rity lilirary, in the high school, in collars, hallways, behind doors, 
••very where. Editors on coming to work would find great stacks of 



The Decisive Yeak of 1904 311 

books aud pajjcrs on their desks. Mucli of it was actually later 
burned in the streets. It was the same story at Platteville. This 
town was also flooded with literature aud an overflow supply of 
five big wagonloads was taken to an empty house in the country. 
All these things were attested to under oath by reputable citizens 
of these places. 

Babcock won the nomination, however, by the very 
tactics LaFollete had so often successfully employed,, 
rushing the fight. January 28 a call was issued for the 
holding of the congressional convention in Baraboo 
March 3. Although the opposition protested that in the 
whole history of the party, with a single exception, such 
convention had not been held earlier than August the 
Babcock managers persisted in their plan of ** winter 
caucuses." The result was that the "favorite sons" 
were unable to effect organizations in time and Babcock 
was renominated. The opposition thus aroused, how- 
ever, brought aboat the congressman's defeat in the elec- 
tion two years later. 

* * » 

A significant political straw pointing the tendency 
of public sentiment was seen in the election that spring 
of a member of the supreme court. A vacancy had been 
created by death and the stalwarts hastened to bring 
out a candidate in the person of L. K. Luse of Superior. 
A little later on the administration side brought forward 
Judge J. C. Kerwin of Neenah. This latter action the 
stalwart press denounced as a deliberate attempt to in- 
ject politics into a judicial election. The administration 
retorted that it represented a majority of the electors 
of Wisconsin, and that it came with ill grace in a minor- 
ity faction to deny the right or question the motives of 
the other side in presenting a candidate of its own and 
one presumably in sympathy with its temper. Although 
the practice had been generally frowned upon by the 
public, partisan racing for the supreme bench was not 
unknown in the state, and it was not long before this 



312 LaFollettz's Winning ok Wisconsin 

contest developed into a sharp factional fight. The ad- 
ministration press boldly took the position that no man 
oiifrht to be supported for the place unless there was 
rrasoiiablc assurance that his decisions on the bench 
would be in line with the public sentiment expressed in 
the Ic^rislation and policies of the administration, and 
attacked Luse as "unsafe," citing, whether justly or not, 
but certainly to his disadvantage, his past connections 
with corporation litigation and his professional associa- 
tion with Senator Spooner. The stalwart press, in the 
main, confined itself to presenting the high abilities and 
attainments of Luse and his fitness for the position. 

On the face of the returns the morning after election 
the indications were that Luse had been elected by a ma- 
jority running into the thousands. But these returns 
came principally from the cities. When later the coun- 
try vote came in it was another story. One after another 
the strictly rural counties returned heavily for Kerwin 
and when after several days all the "backwoods" and 
i.solated precincts had reported, it was found that Ker- 
win led his competitor by some 15.000 votes. The result 
was regarded as a significant expression of the temper of 
the plain people on the issues pending and gave new 
heart to the administration. 

• • • 

/ During all the uproar following these developments 
/Governor LaFollette had made no public statement that 
I he would be a candidate for a third term as governor. 
Divining that sooner or later such announcement would 
he made, the opposition press ironically asked in ad- 
vance w1k» was calling the governor to stand again any- 
way. This was taken by his friends as a challenge and 
accordingljHthe following call appeared in the 3/^ Jloreh 
Times: 

Tho enemies of Governor LaFollette, with a ^Tcat show of noise, 
det-lnro that he cannot logically be a candidate for a third term 
tinlesH ho got.s a call from the people, which thev assort he has not 



The Decisive Year of 1904 313 

yet received. If the formality of a call is to be carried out the 
Times hastens to speak out. Representing his cradled home, where 
he is best known and honored, this paper deems it fitting, and 
feels a just pride therein, that it should be the first to extend a 
formal call to him to again be a candidate. 

Governor LaFollette, we ask you to again accept the position 
whose trust you have discharged with such fidelity to the people 
and such honor to the state. The good work begun in your in- 
spiration must be finished, and to you do the people look for its 
consummation. The reforms that you have ])roposed have been 
twice overwhelmingly indorsed at the polls and the people will 
not be satisfied until they are written upon our statute books. 
And whom do they want to apply and execute them but their own 
intrepid champion? 

We are proud of the fact that in you the young generation can 
find an inspiration. You arc a worthy representative of the culture 
of our great state. But though proud of your brilliant gifts and 
attainments, we find still greater satisfaction in the reflection 
that although you have been for years under the fiercest light of 
scrutiny there has not been a whisper against your public or 
private life. No suspicion of joblicry lias ever attached to any 
of your acts, no charge of double-dealing. On the contrary, you 
have been conceded a most splendidly fearless and conscientious 
executive. Y"ou have set a new standard to public officials and 
in your past record we find our best hope for your continuance as 
governor. 

We are proud of the fact that, although the forces of corruption 
have temporarily defeated your reforms, a healthier civic spirit 
animates the state and particularly our legislative halls. Who 
but remembers the disgraceful conditions that governed at our 
state capital some years ago, when lobbyists and jobbers thronged 
the corridors and legislative chambers, and when railroad passes 
were to be had by all for the asking? The abolition of these evils, 
as well as others, is directly due to influences that you set in 
motion. Prize-fighting has not stained the good name of the state 
since you first put an effective check upon it, nor have you outraged 
public sentiment by indiscriminately opening prison doors. Abuses 
of long standing in our state institutions have all been corrected 
under your administration. The men who have been brought out 
to oppose you are good men, but they stand for nothing positive. 
In ambiguous phrase they mildly indorse your proposed reforms, 
but offer nothing new or satisfactory. Because of their very 
colorless characters and pliant natures they are made the willing 
stalking horses of your enemies to cloak the latter 's real purpose, 



314 LaFoli.ktte 's Wixnixg ok Wisconsin 

that of defeating you, and making your reforms impossible. Uuiler 
the j>lea of "Party harmony" the most vindictive campaign ever 
waged in Wisconsin is now being carried on by tlieni and against 
a most worthy cause and a most high-minded and efficient gov- 
iTiior. Tlie corporations and their tools of grafters and lol)l)yists 
are behind them and were either of those men elected governor 
your reforms and tlie (people's interests would be put by in mockery 
and laughter. 

We want you because tlic trusts and corporations are against 
you. They fear you because you refuse to be their tool. They 
oppose a commission to fix and regulate railway rates and would 
escape paying tlieir share of the taxes. Their main hope lies in 
defeating you. The people should honor one who has the courage 
and self-sacrificing devotion to principle to lead their battles. 
Such leaders are not always found. 

You have given us a strong, clean and economical administration, 
but your good work is not over. We have set our hand to the 
plow and must not turn backward. Therefore, governor, we ask 
you to again come forth and lead us in another fight for })rinciple. 

When this call was repriiited in other papers through- 
out the state the opposition sought to make light of it, 
asserting that it had been written in the governor's office 
by his private secretary. As a matter of fact, it was 
written by a young newspaper man of Madison, who 
liailed from the same town as did the governor — the 
writer of this work, in fact — and entirely on his own re- 
sponsibility. /Serving a stalwart Madison paper, the 
Wisconsi)! iSialc Journal, at the time, this newspaper 
man, by the way, was in a somewhat delicate position. 
To remain in the camp of the "enemy" and preserve a 
babmee of fairness without stultification and without 
surrendering his convictions atui loyalties was no easy 
task. Addi'd to tliis was the sacrifice of foregoing serv- 
ice in tlic ranks in which he longed to be active, and the 
ever present consciousness that he nuist be regarded with 
some suspicion by both sides. To the credit of the editor, 
be it said, he stood loyally by his reporter, even in the 
face of strong loeal ]irotest and even much underground 
pre.ssure from Washington for his removal. 



The Decisive Year of 1904 315 

""We must have one LaFollette man on our staff," he 
invariably replied. "When we get rich enough to stand 
alone," he would say to this reporter, "we may return 
to support LaFollette, for I can't help feeling that he 
stands for the right things. But he won't counsel with 

us." 

* « » 

At one of the nightly meetings in Madison of the stal- 
wart leaders, to take stock of the day's deveh)pments, 
the imported editor asked : 

"Well, what is there to show for the good of the cause 
today ? ' ' 

"Nothing today," replied a local lawyer; "it all goes 
on the other side of the balance. Two more counties 
went against us." 

"We must get up something to stem the tide," said 
the I. E. "Judge, you're an old-timer here; isn't there 
anything in the private life or actions of the governor 
we can attack and out of which we can make some capital. 
This thing is getting desperate. It is a condition and not 
a theory that confronts us." 

"No," replied the judge impatiently, "we have looked 
for some such flaw for nigh on twenty years, but we 
haven't been able to find one. He hasn't even made a 
break in all his public speeches on which we could seize. 
No, it wouldn't do for us to reflect on his private char- 
acter. We must find something else." 

"I have it!" shouted the lawyer, eagerly seizing a 
straw that floated into his fancy. "I see the administra- 
tion is making mucli of its collection of war claims 
against the general government. It is seeking to make 
capital out of the fact that it has succeeded in collecting 
this big sum and added it to the state's funds. Let us 
turn this into a boomerang by charging misapplication 
of moneys. You see instead of placing it back in the 
trust fund from wliieli it was borrowed by Ihe govern- 



316 LaFollette's Winnixg ok Wisconsin 

ment the administration has placed it in the general fund. 
Lot us raise a fj^reat howl over it; say a new scandal has 
been uncovered and that there is strong talk of prosecu- 
tion for misappropriating of money, misfeasance or 
Bomething. " 

' ' I don 't see how we can make it appear that the state 
is being robbed by simply lifting the money out of one 
drawer and placing it in another," said the practical 
judge dubiously. 

"We can make the transaction appear mysterious and 
make our story technical and hard to understand," said 
the hiwyer. "We ought to catch a few by that. Any- 
way there's nothing else." It was agreed that this was 
to be tomorrow's sensation. 

Trivial and seemingly ridiculous as the above may ap- 
pear, it is practically a faithful reflection of what ac- 
tually oc'curri'd. The opposition press for a time car- 
ried long stories on this alleged "irregularity" of the ad- 
ministration and declared that there was strong talk of 
prosecution. 



CHAPTER XXI 
The "Press Gang." 

Something of the Part It Played in Big Political Game — 
"Bill" Powell and Others Described — W. D. Connor Enters 
Upon Political Stage — Elected State Chairman — Breaks With 
LaFollette Over United States Senatorship. 

IT WAS an afternoon early in the spring of 1904. By 
one of those mysterious telepathic conjunctions peculiar 
to the press the political sleuths of all the Milwaukee 
newspapers had fluttered into Madison, as they fre^ 
quently did in this exciting period of war and rumors of 
war. Intuitively they had divined that some new sensa- 
tion was about to burst the bounds of secrecy. The ex- 
traordinary situation' in Wisconsin was attracting even 
national attention and bringing correspondents from far 
and near, while the state press was constantly reveling 
in matter for exploitation. 

On this occasion they were all met in the outer office 
of the executive chamber awaiting developments in the 
inner office. In accordance with the Plomeric practice of 
passing in review the heroes of ancient song, a like serv- 
ice for these later worthies may not here be amiss, while 
waiting^jwith them. 

What shall be said of "Uncle Dick" Petherick, one of 
the most genial, most sarcastic, most irreverent, most 
incomprehensible geniuses that ever pounded the cobbles 
of newspaper row? Dick had as many fine points about 
him as a porcupine. He had come up from the ante- 
diluvian past of journalism, having from the days of his 
"devilhood" seen all the stages of evolution from the 
hand printer to the linotype, from the Washington liand 
press to the mighty revolving Goss of today. For years 
he had reflected in the columns of the ^lilwaukee dailies 



318 •I,\KoLLETTK > Winning ok Wisconsin 

the news, the foibles and tollies of the so-called over- 
prown German town on the shores of Lake Michigan 
till he could say truthfully of the time: "All of it 
have I seen; much of it have I been." He it was, too, 
who had stood at the head of the stairs, iron bar in hand, 
and held at bay a mob of strikers come to wreck the 
plant of his employers. He saved the paper, and was 
Boon afterwards rewarded, with a discharge. Then he 
had returned to his old Madisou home and received an 
appointment to the state board of control, as a member 
of which he made the care and happiness of the unfor- 
tunate children at the state school for dependents his 
special solicitude. 

Dick was like rare old wine. He was surcharged with 
anecdotal exuberance and had the happiest faculty of 
touching the proper spring in illustration of the point 
under discussion. And best of all, his stories were true 
episodes that had come under his personal observation. 

For years Dick had distilled his concentrated wisdom 
and drollery into a stick of scpiibs a day entitled. "Phil- 
nsu|)hy of the Street," which people took regularlj' as a 
caper sauce with their evening meals. Tt is difficult to 
make a choice among these gems, but liere are a few 
scintillating samples: 

Two jiooplo may ilifTor ainl lioth Ipp wrong. 

There nro tinn's in our livos wlion wp look for jioople to advise 
UB wrnngly. 

"Wlu'ii a niotlicr runs the family the children seldom disgrace it. 

No ju.stice of the peace is ever meek enough to ob.iect to being 
cnllod .Tuilge. 

f'lirls who gti Imsliaml hunting often find that the game is not 
worth the powder wasted on the lapel of the coat. 

One tronhle about trying to make both ends meet is that we are 
apt to bust in the middle. 

Force of circumstances is the only perpetual motion that never 
wears out. 

Some people are so afraid of Iving that thev don't dare to tell 
the truth. 



The "Press Gang" 319 

Lovely woman does not have to stoop to folly; it is ever ready to 
climb up to her unless she gives it a vigorous push in the other 
direction. 

If a man is careful in selecting his friends it is of little luoment 
what kind of enemies he has. 



There was Bill Powell of the Milwaukee Free Press, 
the soul of good fellowship ; against the rock of whose 
urbanity and imperturbability the waves of passion 
dashed and fretted in vain. Briefly, Bill was big, bluff 
and bully. Never known to harbor a resentment, his 
composure was irritating to the more human fellows of 
the craft, who were more or less swayed by the passions 
of the hour. 

Bill's position was one of no mean responsibility. As 
representative of the official organ of reform, on his 
untried but adequate shoulders fell a heavy load. His 
was the delicate responsibility of speaking by the card, 
of pitching the keynote, as it were, for all the lesser 
sheets of its ilk in the state. He alone, with big John 
Hannan, had the envied privilege of carte blanche to 
the holy of holies, the executive office, and thereby had 
a voice in determining the nature and amount of news 
that was to go out from this prolific sensation-generating 
center. 

The future historian of this turbulent period, if dis- 
cerning, will ascribe no little credit for the ultimate 
triumph of ''reform" — the stalwart press always quoted 
the word, — to the fact that Bill Powell represented the 
Free Press at the capital at this time. With practically 
all the other papers represented at Madison either hostile 
or indifferent to the administration, to him fell the 
onerous task of each day undoing their iniquity of the 
day before, as he viewed it ; of completing their garbled 
reports, of unwinding their tangled webs of prejudice 
and misrepresentation, and setting the public right with 



320 LaFoi-lette 's Winning or Wisconsin 

reference to the conduct of affairs at the capitol, from 
the administration point of view. 

Ill" was the buffer between the administration and the 
opposition, and it was in this capacity that he uncon- 
sciously was to become a factor of no small consequence. 
Daily brought face to face with the suspicious, the ex- 
asperated, the unscrupulous representatives of the oppo- 
sition, he was too often the nearest object of attack in the 
relentless war wajred on the governor and had to vicar- 
iously bear the taunts, the threats, the derision and the 
spleen heaped upon, the administration. But his equa- 
nimity was e(iual to any test. Without surrendering an 
iota of his paper's convictions or stultifying himself in 
the least degree, he preserved an unruffled port, disarm- 
ing their taunts with a story or pleasantry, meeting their 
charges with a plausible explanation and when these 
failed appealing to their honesty and fair play. By 
these means he managed to be on good terms with all. 
However much they might have hated the governor, how- 
ever much scorned and despised the Free Press, they 
could not quarrel with its big, broad-based, prosperous- 
looking representative, who before thej^ realized it had 
ingratiated himself into their favor by learning their 
first names and relieving them of their best brands of 
cigars. In the genial warmth of his presence all acerbity 
melted away ; men came to see how small it was to en- 
tertain malice and spite, and unconsciously came to esti- 
mate the temper and aims of the reform movement in 
kindlier frame of mind. Thus gently brought to incline 
in the right direction, here and there one occasionally 
grew from a hater to be a supporter of the administra- 
tion. 

In the earlier days of the reform movement in Wis- 
consin Hill was a democrat and in the first LaFollette 
campaign actually espoused from the stump the cause 
of "Bryan. Romrieh or Blood." lie was then living 



The "Pbkss Gang" S21 

innocently in Madison, sang on Sundays in a church 
choir and established a musical tradition associated with 
moonlit evenings and the lakes. Then he drifted to Mil- 
waukee, became annexed to the Free Press and rose to the 
enviable position of political writer. Pie thus became 
a person of consequence, so much so that it became signi- 
ficant to take lunch with him. As remarked, nothing 
could ruffle his even tenor. Even when Dave Rose threw 
him off his special train in the wilds near Oshkosh be- 
cause Powell was writing real news, making it necessary 
for him (Bill) to "hit the ties" back to civilization — 
imagine the spectacle, as one of his fellows said — the 
benevolent despot who ruled Milwaukee did not get the 
flaying another would have given him, for as gaily as he 
met the duns for his board bills at the Avenue hotel, 
Powell went serenely on his way while all the world 
wondered, and journalistic dignity received a crowning 
vindication. 

Then there was Gil Vandercook, by common consent 
dubbed the dean of the fourth estate, not by virtue of 
length of service, but in deference to a certain semi- 
serious lordly bearing, and air distingue, and because 
representing the haughty old Milwaukee SeniincI, the 
organ of the opposition, hence of the political aristocracy 
of the state. A man of the world, courtly, suave, with 
a felicity for ingenious and attenuated expression, he was 
courted by all and generally respected. Gil's high art. 
for which he cannot be given too much credit, lay in 
giving a maximum of news with a minimum of prejudi- 
cial flavor. In sympathy with the spirit of his paper, 
he yet had too fine a sense of newspaper ethics to unduly 
distort or tell untruth. It must have occasionally roused 
the gorge of the less sensitive owners of his paper that 
he often told the honest truth when misrepresentation 
would have been more to their liking and served the pur- 
pose better. As Bill Powell was the keeper of the great 

21 



322 LaFollette's Winning of Wisconsin 

seal oi the administralioii, so Gil was the official spokes- 
man of "the interests." That he enjoyed a degree of 
confidence not often given newspapermen was a high 
tribute to his judgment, his perspicacity and his profes- 
sional honesty. His plaint that he had more stories that 
he was not allowed to write than he was permitted to 
♦'Xploit was generally accepted as a fact. He was a 
|)arty to many a secret conference and deal, and more, he 
was an adviser, whose judgment, however, was too often 
disregarded by the stubborn and less astute big ones of 
his faction who persisted in blindly leading the blind. 
Kindly, honest, outspoken. Gil even enjoyed to an extent 
the confidence of LaFollette, whom he always respected 
and to whom he became more and more attached with 
time. 

(irassic (if the Evening Wisconsin was there to get his 
first whirl at state politics. A small body surmounted 
by a hooked nose, bearing a great pair of glasses, and a 
shining expanse of baldness, he was a figure not soon to 
be fi)rgottcn. Like Powell, Grassie was a minister's son, 
yet it were hardly fair to thus lightly condemn him with- 
out qualification. He must of necessity have possessed 
elements of worth or his would not have been the im- 
j)ortant Madison commission for his sheet. In the easy 
anil familiar parlance of the eraft. Grassie was styled 
"an iniitulsive cuss.'' It is said that in his locust-and 
wild-honey days, soon after leaving college, George was 
wandering aimlessly about the streets of Superior 
pondering the design of the Creator in placmg him 
(Grassie) into the scheme of things, when he suddenly 
saw n great light and jumping on board a train went 
direct, and penniless, to Milwaukee, and to the office of 
the Evening Wisconsin, and demanded a job. The inci- 
dent was typical of Grassie and his methods. With a 
"come-on-lxys" air of familiarity he took and main- 
tained a position in tlie confidences of the men who made 



The "Press Gang" 323 

the news and by conducting a free lance "dope" column 
he added spice to his somewhat sedate and correct sheet. 
Grassie was true to the type of newspaperman so happily 
described by the poet : 

Enslaved, improvident, elate, 

He greets the embarrassed gods, nor fears 
To grasp the iron hand of fate. 
Or match with destiny for beers. 

When Grassie got on the trail of a sensation it mat- 
tered not that entreating angels sought to stay him and 
declared they dared not follow, — down he would run it, 
whatever the consequences. In his early reportorial days 
he became inoculated with the virus of the "eleventh 
story league" and was never quite able to get the taint 
out of his political system. Later he became a member 
of the legislature and passed into oblivion. 

No review of the worthies of the "press gang" of the 
time would be complete without a notice of big John 
Hannan, chief factotum of the governor's office- When 
Jerre C. Murphy drojiped out as private secretary in 
LaFollette's second term, and went out to fight the 
copper dragons of Montana John had come in as his 
successor. It was like taking an important command 
in the midst of battle, but being born to battle John was 
happy. He had already been through some fire. Both 
as newspaperman and as practical politician and orator, 
he had taken an active hand in various contests with the 
public service corporations in Milwaukee. 

As private secretary John appreciated his responsibil- 
ities. He watched his chief as he Avould a child, not only 
shielding the latter 's health, but applying the rod of 
outspoken opinion when necessary. Nor did he make 
many mistakes of diplomacy. He seldom burst with a 
mighty secret at the wrong time, although his pockets 
were literally stuffed with state-shaking potentialities. 
It was said that John could answer any question off-hand 
except the color of the desk underneath his papers. 



324 LaFollette's Winning of Wisconsin 

It usfd to be said in later years at Washington that 
while certain states were practically unrepresented in 
the United States senate, Wisconsin was fortunate iq 
havinp three senators. LaFollette, Uncle Ike Stephenson, 
and John Ilannan. "Yes," adde d a N ew York visitor 
on one such oeeasion, "and John is worth more than a 
half dozen up there I miglit name." 

An American writer of discernment has said that it 
is a far easier job to be president of the United States 
than to be the city editor of a metropolitan daily; that 
the latter ri'sponsibility calls for more decision, execu- 
tive ability, nervous reserve and actual physical and 
mental strenprth than the former. 

As such city editor in his day John demonstrated his 
capacity to fill a presidential job if necessary. It is re- 
lated of him that one of liis reporters came dashing in 
one niglit with a fine story. But unfortunately he was 
not certain of his facts and hesitated in his conscientious- 
ness. "To blank with the facts," said the decisive John, 
"write the stor>\" 

But John appreciated the value of facts and knew how 
to turn them to powerful account. When in 1900 Charles 
I'fister brttught suit for libel against the Mihvaukee 
Sentinrl, and it was up to that sheet to defend itself, 
Joiin Ilaiuian, as one of his fellow^s said, "jumped into 
his figliting clothes and dug up so much stuff on Pfister 
that the latter concluded the wise thing to do would be 
to l)uy the Sentinel, his f>wn libel suit and all." Like- 
wise it was John, who a year later, while on the new 
Free Press, went down into Cirant and Lafayette coun- 
ties and in two days — he couldn't stay longer for want 
of money, — so completely exposed the stalwart practices 
of buying up state papers as to put a final crimp in the 
activities of the Eleventh Floor League. These were 
among tho things John did— he did them with his little 
facts. 



The "Press Gang" 325 

LaFoUette's reputation does not rest on a disinclina- 
tion to put himself forward or to face a row. For in- 
stance, once when he rose to address the senate President 
Pro Tern Frye seemed to wish to ignore him and rush 
through a vote. LaFollette called, "Mr. President!" 
No recognition. Again Mr. LaFollette called out, this 
time somewhat louder. Still there was no recognition 
and the vote was about to be put. At this LaFollette 
pulled out his stopper to its full length, as he said, and 
in a voice seemingly loud enough to crack the glass in the 
ceiling, called out: "Mr. President!" The presiding 
oflScer jumped in startled amazement and turned, but 
was so embarrassed he couldn't place the Wisconsin 
statesman, whereupon the latter introduced himself as 
"the senator from Wisconsin" and proceeded to speak. 

But even LaFolletto would occasionally lapse in bat- 
tle; not so with John. He believed in fighting three 
hundred sixtj^-five days a year and as many more as leap 
year permitted. With the instinct of the Irish born 
from sleeping for centuries upon their arms, John chal- 
lenged all comers to stand as friends or foes and then did 
business with them accordingly. "You can't handle 
office-seekers with Christian Science," he once observed. 

Not the least picturesque element in this interesting 
period was thus furnished in Big John himself. 

Another new man, C. H. Kelsey, also came out from 
Milwaukee for a day or two. In appearance Kelsey sug- 
gested a slightly shrunken edition of Governor Peck and 
occasionally a kinship seemed apparent between the 
writings of these two worthies. To Kelsey was later to 
fall the duty of covering the legislative session for the 
Philistinic Milwaukre Journal and explaining each day 
its editorial Ishmaelism. Hated by many and trusted 
by none at that time, his sheet was nevertheless read by 
all and in the consciousness of this fact Kelsey labored 
like Sisyphus to keep abreast of the current of affairs. 



.126 LaFoi,i>ette's Winning or Wisconsin 

The fioul of industry and fidelity, he delivered the goods, 
too, and as per color desired, writing hales or hellfire 
around " Tncle Ike" and other political saints and sin- 
ners as the occasion required. Kelsey hailed from upper 
Michigan, hut ])reviously had been, as he said, a "burr" 
on llaniillon Collepre where he acquired his polish. It 
is said tliat Kelsey was once sent to cover a h\^ German 
wetldinp in Milwaukee. As soon as the newly-made 
deaf old father-in-law learned that his visitor was a 
representative of the press he quickly called out: "Frau! 
Here is a newsj)aper man; pet him something to eat." 

Kelsey 's later capital city assignment could scarcely 
be considered a snap. Besides being expected to be 
omnipresent and omniscient with reference to everything 
pertaining to the legislature and statehouse, he was ex- 
I)ected to wateh the city, as well, never to sleep more 
than an hour at a time and then with one eye open and 
to be ready at any moment to interview some professor 
on the latest bug, or Mrs. Brown on how she felt at being 
left out from the last Main reception. A good fellow, 
here's a toast to Kelsey I 

Where is the pen to do justice to Winter Everett? 
Alas! it is still crude gold in the bosom of mother earth. 
1 1 is deserved immortality will never be realized in its 
rich completeness, since every biographer must be less 
than his hero. Indefatigable, pertinacious, daring. 
Winter had been known in his early years as the boy 
wonder of the newspaper world and later years justified 
the promise f)f hi.s teens. In industry, conscientiousness 
and devotion to his sheet he approached the old ideal of 
service, .sweating for duty not for hire. 

Winter's imagination was the despair of all his fellows. 
Tlii'irs was to his as moonlight unto sunlight, or as 
water unto wine. Given one fact they but clumsily 
recorded it, unconnected, unadorned, while Winter given 
one wr)uld add another and from the eomliiiiation deduce 



The "Pbkss Gang" 327 

a third. This trait of "anticipating" doiibtless was re- 
sponsible for his famous and original phrase, "echoes 
of the coming fight." 

He had a positive genius for political deduction and 
candor compels tlie admission that in many instances his 
conclusions later were verified in fact. He was the terror 
of the political crook and many a man in Wisconsin to- 
day is trying in unobtrusive and contrite ways to live 
down some discreditable exposure brought about by 
Winter's merciless pen. His record for scoops stands 
perhaps unmatched in Wisconsin newspaper history. He 
it was who during this exciting period laid bare the fact 
and compelled the admission that practically all the 
officials in the attorney general's office, LaFollette ex- 
ponents though they were, had been or were in possession 
of railroad passes, an exposure which it is believed was 
responsible for the retirement of at least one of the prin- 
cipal members of the force. His keen intuition was also 
shown when immediately on the announcement of Len- 
root's candidacy for governor in 1906 he predicted that 
Herman L. Ekern would be the next speaker of the as- 
sembly. 

Winter came to be known as the keeper of LaFollette 's 
conscience. When all the other correspondents were 
thrown off the trail, when the state remembering LaFol- 
lette 's predilection for doing the startling and unex- 
pected knew not what next was coming, one needed but 
to turn to the columns of the Daihj News where the most 
intricate processes of LaFollette 's reasoning and in- 
triguing were laid bare. In fact, it is said that the gov- 
ernor himself in the multitude of his cares occasionally 
reverted to Winter's column to get the thread, tempor- 
arily lost, of some line of thought or policy that he had 
contemplated, but this may be a Lush exaggeration. 

Winter had alternately dreamed for years of being a 
farmer, a lawyer or a great editor, but the continuance 



328 LaFollettk's Winning ok Wisconsin 

of LaFollette in public life made the dream more and 
more remote. He felt that his mission in life was to 
cam]) on the trail of LaFollette and to inform the state 
of his movements and designs. Grassie's slogan, "Watch 
Ilatton," was a plagiarism of the shibboleth earlier 
adopted by Winter for his exclusive use, "Watch La- 
Fnllette!" In justice to Winter and his paper it should 
he added that they dealt honestly with LaFollette on the 
whole and eventually supported much of his legislation. 

Thoroughly despising shams and attitudes, Winter 
knew MO such thing as human greatness, nor did any 
sanctity attach to public men or occasions. He had seen 
too much fustianism in it all. At the most solemn or 
thrilling moments, when impassioned orators were at the 
cliinax of fervid appeal, shaking the state and creating 
new political epochs, Winter would unconcernedly stroll 
into the legislative chamber and coolly promenade to the 
speaker's desk, oblivious to all that was being said and 
unpoetieally eliewing a finger nail or reading a news- 
paj)er. It was not that lie was not himself interested or 
failed to grasp the significance of the occasion, but long 
contact with the world and public men and measures 
had worn ofi" all provincial wonder and awe and rounded 
him into the tyi>ical metropolitan newspaper man who 
could meet tragedy and comedy alike unmoved and with- 
out surprise. 

To show how utterly inadequate is one pen to do justice 
to ;i facile character like Everett one needs but to read 
the following from a brother scribe whom the writer 
asked t-. contribute some impressions of the Milwaukee 
goniu.s. He wrote: 

Winter Everett, the lepislative oorrespoiulcnt of the Milwaukee 
Daily News, would never take a ])rize at a beauty show, but he is 
A hu.stler. 

In earlier years, wIumi WintiT thoujjht it was cheaper to buy 
a ni'w jiair of .socks tliaii ^atlicr the old ones together and take 



The "Press Gang" 329 

them to the laundry, he was known as the ' ' boy wonder ' ' and he 
had something on all the other Marathon writers. 

Former Assemblyman Henry Hul)er of Stoughton roomed with 
Everett when they were students at the University of Wisconsin. 
Winter was tlien a student in the law scliool and Huber thought 
Winter was destined to become president of the United States. 

"He Jiad an original way of taking down lectures," said Huber 
one day. "He would attend class, take a few notes, and then 
return to his room and produce the lecture verbatim, it seemed 
to me. I could never understand how he could remember so ac- 
curately all that was said. Everett explained it by saying that it 
was the newspaper way. I didn 't know much about newsijapermen 
and their ways at that time, but I was deeply impressed with 
Everett's ability to reproduce a long lecture from a few notes 
which were very hard to read. ' ' 

Winter was raised in a newsjiaper office, as the expression goes, 
and he knows the game for what it is worth. He lias been re- 
[lorting politics for years, which nieans that he is not the most 
popular man in the world. Winter has a way all his own. He 
will permit a fellow newspaperman to tell him all he knows, which 
may not take long, and then will quietly inform you that he 
printed that same story two weeks ago. 

Before I knew* Everett real well I got him confused with Walter 
Wellman. It was about time for the republican platform to come 
from the printers. The newspapermen were putting in sleepless 
nights, fearing the platform might fall into the hands of some 
competitor. I met Winter in the capitol and told him the first 
copies of the jilatforra were available. As a cub I was a bit proud 
to think that I knew of this before Everett and proceeded to tell 
him about a few of the planks. One plank in particular was of 
great interest to him and I gave him the details of it. 

After he had learned all I knew, he said : 

"Why, I helped to write that plank myself." 

A few minutes later Winter was in our office asking for an extra 
copy of the platform, and it seemed a little strange to me that 
he should ask so many questions about the very plank he said 
he had helped to write. 

Winter is well liked on the Daily News. Down there they think 
he is a whale, and it is said he is one of the highest salaried scribes 
in the state. Everett is too busy to have much time to play. 
When he was younger he was a pool shark, and could trim most 
of the boys in the Chicago press club. During the Spanish Amer- 
ican war he was a correspondent in the south, remaining with the 
troops until they returned north. In presidential campaigns he 



330 LaFom.ette's Wixning ok Wisconsin 

usually rides on s|.fcial trains with tlie candidates. William Jen- 
njnps Hryaii knows Winter very well, and when he was last in 
Madison the Milwaukee scril.e rode to the depot on the top seat 

of Bryan 's carriage. 

♦ * • 

Bill Schoenfield, for vi-ai-s the faithful Madison yard- 
nia.ster of the Milwaukee Sentinel, was on hand as he 
always had a faculty of bcinj? whenever in the vernacular 
" lifll hroke loose." A fellow of infinite je.st and a laugh 
that carried eonta*,'ion with it, Bill nevertheless could be 
sternlj' .serious in his work. Bill had a remarkable fac- 
ulty of putting quickly the essential question in an inter- 
view, then (juietly and unsuspectingly leading his sub- 
ject olT into jdeasant channels of forgetfulness whence 
the victim would wake up the next day to wonder when, 
where and how lif had given so much away. Bill hailed 
from Monroe, a town whose principal exports have been 
limborger cheese and bright newspapei- men. No other 
man who ever operated in the ^Madison field has given 
the world so many amusing feature stories as Bill 
Schoenfield. A collection of the university and capital 
romances and escapades unearthed by him would make 
many a day's entertaining reading. As Assemblyman 
John Hughes said at a press dinner afterwards: "The 
devil who was responsible for giving me the anti-tights 
notoriety and who has played the deuce in general with 
more politicians than anyone else is Bill Schoenfield," 

Also, there was young Fred Holmes, whom Dr. Wilder 
described as of the tribe of Omrns, and Louis Bridgman, 
of the tribe of Antigos, both of whom the doctor, *'in 
his weakness for missionary work," as he said, liad taken 
under his protecting wing; Bob Knotf, a budding Janes- 
ville Hearst ; "Ned" Jordan, a distressful student muck- 
raker and later auto king; "Art" Crawford, a later 
famous correspondent, and lastly, the modest writer of 
these pages. 

In the inner cliarnher with the governor Avas the new 



Tjik "Pbi;s.s Gang" 331 

man of mj'stery in Wisconsin politics and whose taking 
of a train at Milwaukee for Madison, with one or two 
other half breed leaders, had led to the hegira of the 
press sleuths to the capital, William D. Connor. Con- 
nor's' brief flashing as a luminary across the sky of re- 
form may be here noted. 

On December 12, 1903, LaFollette went to Neillsville 
to make a speech, which speech was generally regarded as 
practically beginning his third term campaign. After 
the speech a man came to the hotel where LaFollette was 
stopping and introduced himself as W. D. Connor of 
Marshfield. He appeared a quiet, soft-spoken man, sin- 
cere, yet with somewhat of an air of mystery. He de- 
clared that he had suffered long from unfair treatment 
at the hands of the railroads ; that he had been obliged 
to build his own lines in part ; that he favored the propo- 
sition of better regulation of them and would like to 
help the LaFollette cause along. LaFollette thanked 
him ; welcomed him as a new acquisition and after a 
pleasant visit the two parted. This Avas LaFollette 's 
first meeting with Connor. 

The next spring," after the capitol had burned, Connor 
again came to see LaFollette and offered to help the 
cause along with a cash subscription. He contributed to 
the campaign $1,000 or more. Apparently he then put 
into operation some of the craft of manipulation for 
which he is given so much credit, for when the state con- 
vention met at Madison in May H. W. Chynoweth an- 
nounced that friends of the Marshfield man were urging 
the election of Connor as chairman of the state central 
committee. LaFollette was greatly surprised at this and 
made the observation that he was "pretty new," that 
the people of the state did not know him, that he had 
not been long with the cause, etc. But it was pointed out 
that he was a man of wealth and therefore his selection 
would turn the edge of the charge that the cause was a 



sau LaFollette's Winning of Wisconsin 

menace to men of business (most big business men being 
against it). LaFollette finally yielded and Connor was 
.'N'l'ted. sonu'whiit to the surprise of the people of the 
state. 

When the campaign was over and the election of a 
legislature of the LaFollette persuasion was assured Isaac 
Stephenson of Marinette came to Madison and made 
known to Governor LaFollette that he wanted the United 
States senatorshiji. In the great fight for the state ticket 
and the election of a reform legislature the remoter 
question of the senatorship had scarcely been considered. 
LaFollette informed Stephenson that no members had 
been pledged to any candidate so far as he knew and 
advised him to make a canvass and see how they felt 
toward liim. Stephenson asked LaFollette to name a 
man to do so, but LaFollette declined to assume this 
semblance of bossism and advised Stephenson to get his 
own man. Stephenson secured former Assemblyman 
Henry Overbeck, who visited and corresponded with the 
various members, and finally reported to Stephenson 
that he could not be elected. Stephenson accepted this. 
Then at a meeting of the state central committee Connor 
is reported to have said, in jocular or serious vein, that 
the only man who could be elected senator was W. D. 
Connor. This was the first intimation that Connor had 
senatorial aspirations. 

Late in November Governor LaFollette went to St. 
Louis to visit the world's fair. lie was followed in a 
day or two by his private secretary, Colonel Hannan. 
Senator Stout and others, who came in deep agitation 
with the news that Connor was actively laying plans for 
the .senatorship. With a fight on between him and 
Stephenson they believed the cause and all reform legis- 
lation might he -'shot to pieces." Such fight must be 
averted. On LaFollette 's return Connor sent word ask- 
ing for an interview. At the meeting, as the story goes, 



The "Press Gang" 



333 



he informed LaFoUette of his candidacy and wanted the 
governor's support. LaFoUette told Connor he ques- 
tioned the wisdom of such an early candidacy; that he 
(Connor) was not well enough known and probably 
could not be elected. Quick as flash Connor asked: 

"Are you a candidate?" 

* ' No, ' ' replied the governor. 

"Will you be a candidate?" pursued Connor. 

"No, I will not be a candidate," replied LaFoUette, 
"unless conditions make it necessary in order to retain 
harmony and secure the legislation pledged in the plat- 
form. If they do make it necessarj' I shall be a candi- 
date^ for the senate, the cemetery, or anything else." 

"Are you aware," continued Connor, as the story goes, 
"that the man who can control twelve votes cannot only 
control the senatorship but can defeat your legislation ? ' ' 

A stormy scene is said to have followed, with Connor 
leaving the executive chamber angry. 

LaFoUette was unanimously elected senator later on, \ 
but from that time Connor was hostile to LaFoUette. 




Mrs. LaFoUette Speaking to Farmers 



CHAPTER XXII 

Pre-Convention Contests. 

GovEKNOR Sounds Keynote of Campaign in Milton Junction 
Grange Speech — Defends Grange Legislation — Exciting 
Caucus Campaign Opens — Vote in Dane County Exceeds that 
IN General Election — Many Contests in Counties — Indica- 
tions Stalwarts Determined on Desperate Course. 

W ITII jest and tale the assembled newspapermen had 
been long beguiling the time in the outer office. 

"Well, when 1 was doin' police on the Sentinel," broke 
in Everett, whereat there was a sudden retreat on the 
part of the older men present. Vandercook suddenly 
remembered that he had an important engagement at 
the Park ; Powell that he had a bulletin to file ; Kelsey 
that Campbell wanted to know if a badger was a "Wis- 
consinian or a Wisconsonian. ' ' These sudden attacks of 
professional conscience invariably smote his fellows 
whqfiever Winter would revert to his police days on the 
Sentinel. 

Winter having inflicted his story on his remaining 
fellows, "Uncle Dick" Petherick began: "That re- 
minds me of a story of Billy Ginty." Dick could al- 
ways be counted upon for a Ginty story. 

"I was once sittin' in to a game with Billy," began 
I'ncle Dick — it was as far as he got. The door suddenly 
flew open. 

"Have you heard that the stalwarts have leased the 
opera house to hold a rival state convention?" yelled 
Kodney Elward, the famous Kipling reciter, as he came 
storming in. 

It was the first public intimation of the far-reaching 
scheme the stalwarts were laying. 



Pke-Convention Contests 335 

In accordance with the dashing method long agreed 
upon, the administration determined to rush the issue 
promptly at the opening of the new year and events were 
soon moving with extraordinary celerity. 

The long considered plan of but one battle, and that 
an early and decisive one, awaited but its formal an- 
nouncement when the chairman of the state central com- 
mittee should consider the hour most opportune. In the 
meantime the governor w^as engrossed in the preparation 
of his first political speech of the campaign in which was 
to be sounded the keynote of the coming fight. / This 
speech, the keynote of 1904, delivered before the Milton 
Junction grange January 29 was in effect an exhaustive 
historical brief in defense of the granger legislation of 
thirty years before and a practical reiteration of the same 
issues as a challenge for the coming campaign. ^•T^hus was 
this extraordinary campaign to witness among other 
anomalies the final vindication of this granger legislation 
by a republican governor and its practical repudiation 
by the party that had enacted it and on the issue of 
which it had once ridden into power. 

Of this legislation the governor said in part : 

The granger legislation was the first effort on the part of the 
people of this country to apply the rules and principles of the law 
for the control of common carriers to the railroad business of the 
country. It was the first attempt to take from the railroad presi- 
dents the kingly prerogatives which made them masters of the 
highways of commerce and trade. It was a battle royal, and as 
upon the meadows of Eunnymede, Englishmen first wrested from 
King John their first bill of rights, so in the granger states was 
the great battle waged which established as the law of this country 
the right of the people, through legislation, to regulate trans- 
portation charges upon the railroads of the land. * • ♦ 

The repeal of the Potter law is now general' - regarded as a 
mistake by the best modern writers on the railway problem. It 
has at last dawned upon them and others that the law was just 
and that, above all, it was a step in the right direction. It did 
not do away with discriminations. But this was because the roads 
declined to observe the law, and because adequate machinery for 



336 LaFollette's Winning of Wisconsin 

its enforcement had not been provided. Discriminations will 
never be aljolislied until the state takes complete control of the 
rate-making jiower. 

But even if the Potter law did not accomplish all that was ex- 
pected of it, it taught railway managers many useful lessons. They 
learned for the first time tliat there was a higher authority. This 
law also brought the question before the courts, and by the de- 
cisions that followed all doubt was forever removed as to the 
authority of the state to fix rates and exercise control over the 
railroads. This alone was probably worth many times more to the 
people than the cost of the movement. 

A suspension of activities on both sides was caused 
by the burning: of the state capitol, February 27, but^n 
March 18 the state central committee issued the call for 
the state convention to be held in Madison on the early 
date of May 18. Immediately calls for caucuses were 
issued by county committees, the first being held April 
16 in Sauk county. Owing to the coupling of the 
Baensch candidacy with that of Congressman Babcock 
just before this Sauk county went for Baensch and in- 
spired the greatest elation in the stalwart camp./ Other 
counties quickly followed and the returns were awaited 
with the keenest anxiety by the rival factions, the caucus 
battles often sharing double column head honors with 
the battles of the Russian-Japanese war then raging. A 
whirlwind speaking tour by Governor LaFollette added 
a dramatic element to the contest. 

April 18 was one of the great caucus daj'-s of the cam- 
paign, no less than fifteen counties electing delegates. 
So groat was the interest taken in the day's developments 
that all the metropolitan papers issued extras as the 
returns from important counties came in. 
I Particularly interesting was the battle in Dane county/ 
where was presented the remarkable spectacle of a party 
caucus vote running by thousands ahead of that east 
in tlie last general election. It was also to furnish an 
illustration of the general shrewdness of the administra- 
fion. .'The caucuses for the countrv districts were set 



Pre-Convention Contests 337 

for the afternoon while those for the cities of Madison 
and Stonghton were called for the evening. Many of the 
townships were thus able to report before sundown and 
as one after another showed heavy returns for LaFollette 
the administration struck off handbills giving these re- 
turns and flooded Madison with them, almost before the 
polls were opened in the city, to show the drift of the 
tide. No doubt this course bore results. LaFollette 
carried every ward in the city of Madison, as well as 
every ward in Stoughton. The total republican vote for 
governor in the county in the preceding election of 1902 
was 7,561, yet the caucus returns on this day showed a 
total of 1J,561 or just 2,000 more, LaFollette receiving 
5,783 and Baensch 3,778. /li\ the fifth ward of Madison 
— the university ward — where the polls were closed be- 
fore all had voted, a total of 568 votes, of which 178 
were on affidavits, was cast in three hours. There was 
great rejoicing in the administration camp at this vic- 
tory. A great throng of the governor's admirers had 
gathered in the executive office that evening to receive 
returns. In the midst of the excitement a breathless 
courier rushed in with the news that the last precinct to 
report — the heavy fifth ward at the university — had been 
carried by overwhelming vote for LaFollette. "That 
makes it unanimous," shouted the governor. The stal- 
warts raised the cry that the administration had been 
voting democrats, a charge presumably not without 
foundation, and even went to the extent of serving 
formal protest upon Chairman Pederson against dele- 
gates to the state convention elected by democratic votes. 
It is an interesting fact to note that while the total vote 
of the city was about 5,000, practically 4.000 votes were 
cast in the republican caucuses. Nevertheless the demo- 
crats controlled in the city election that spring, in fact 
had a clear field. 



23 



338 LaFollette's Winning op Wisconsin 

It should be explained that the republicans of Madison 
put no city ticket in the field. This course was believed 
to reflect the wishes of the governor, who perhaps hoped 
to profit by this consideration of an opposing party, and 
the wisdom of which was established by the later caucus 
results. The democrats apparently turned in to the 
rt'i)ul)lic'an caucuses in large numbers and supported the 
administration. 

The conference at which the decision was reached to 
place no republican ticket in the city field was an interest- 
ing one. A delegation of local republican leaders — the 
writer, as secretary of the city committee, among them — 
called on the governor to consider the course to be pur- 
sued in the local campaign. The democrats had nomi- 
nated William D. Curtis, a popular and progressive 
citizen, for mayor. It was understood that the governor 
desired that no republican candidate be put in the field 
for mayor, holding that it would redound to the advan- 
tage of the state ticket locally were the somewhat dubious 
hope of his election sacrificed and not permitted to un- 
necessarily complicate the political situation. It was 
important that the administration should get a strong 
homo endorsement. / But the governor refused to directly 
express such wish. He paced the floor saying, "It is not 
for me to dictate ; it is for you citizens to say. ' ' How- 
ever, his callers were not lacking in the proverbial faculty 
of those who on the winking of authority know how to 
interpret a law. ( They loft tho conference and no candi- 
date was nominated. 

It is not necessary for power to employ the direct and 
brutal phrase. Its wishes are readily interpreted, how- 
ever dolphic the suggestion. A certain young man had 
taken an examination before a state board. The ex- 
amination returns being somewhat slow in coming in an 
iiifhiontial relative of the young candidate asked the gov- 
ornor if ho could not prod the board along a little. 



Pbe>Convention Conte8i;s 339 

I 
Ringing up the board, the governor said : ' ' Can you tell' 
me how Mr. So-and-So came out in the examination he 
took recently. I am quite interested in him and would 
like to know how he fared?" After a moment or two 
the board reported that the candidate had successfully 
passed the examination. 

Rivalry ran so high as to at times promise violence. 
On the eve of the caucuses m Milwaukee the excitement 
was so great that it was feared bloodshed might break 
out the next day. To do what he could to cripple the 
LaFollette forces, Mayor Rose had previously removed all 
the election inspectors who were LaFollette men and had 
filled their places with democrats and stalwarts. It was 
expected that these officials would make it as unpleasant 
as possible for the administration voters and rush them 
through the booths with scant ceremony. To protect 
the rights of the voters and to brace them up the LaFol- 
lette leaders obtained an opinion from the city attorney 
that a voter might remain in a booth as long as he 
wished, providing he did not interfere with anyone else 
in voting. This opinion was printed and mailed to every 
worker available the night before, together with an ap- 
peal to everyone to be on watch and to stand as firm for 
his rights at the polls as he would for his rights in his 
home. This action no doubt had some deterring influ- 
ence on these officials the following day. But the situa- 
tion was a tense one. Governor LaFollette arrived in 
Milwaukee in the afternoon of the day before the 
caucuses to deliver a speech there in the evening. 

As they left the Plankinton hotel for the hall where the 
governor was to speak Henry Cochems could not forbear 
mentioning the anxiety he felt over the outcome the fol- 
lowing day. "We may see some bloody times at some 
of the booths, ' ' he remarked. With a significant grimace 
and a look that spoke volumes of determination, LaFol- 



340 LaFollette's Winning of Wisconsin 

lette replied: "Never mind; stand firm; I am still 
governor, and I enjoy the pardoning power." There 
were many exciting scenes at the polls next day, and it 
is said many guns were carried, but no serious clashes 
took place. 

The closeness of the race and the fact that caucuses 
were held up to within a day of the opening of the state 
convention served to keep interest up to a high pitch. 
Althou^'h the Miiwaukee Sentinel as early as May 8 had 
I)ractically conceded the renomination of Governor La- 
Follette, the stalwart leaders kept up strong claims of 
a majority to the end. May 13 they declared they 
needed but four votes to defeat LaFollette and when the 
last caucuses were over May 16 they claimed a combined 
total of 555 votes, or 22 more than were needed to win. 
The administration, on the other hand, claimed a total 
of 609 votes and conceded 329 to Baensch and 127 to 
Cook. 

But there were many contests. 

As the recognized authority on credentials, the state 
central committee met at Madison May 17, the day be- 
fore the convention, and held sessions until 11 o'clock 
the next day, disposing of these contests. This commit- 
tee included sixteen administration men and six stal- 
warts. It was shown afterward that by unanimous vote 
the committee had seated a clear majority of administra- 
tion delegates. Many able lawyers appeared before the 
committee in the interests of the various contestants. 
Since it was the action of this committee that was pleaded 
by the stalwarts in excuse of their bolt, a brief abstract 
(if its proceedings and of the delegate status at the con- 
vention will help to an understanding of the situation. 
A careful study of this phase of affairs made at the time 
by a broad-minded administration supporter follows: 

Of tlio l,06;j delegates elected, lOS were contested, leaving 957 
delegates tliat all agreed at that time, were entitled to seats in the 
convention. 



Pbe-Convention Contests 341 

Of these 957 delegates, those from the following counties were 
for Mr. Cook: Calumet, 7; Fond du Lac, 25; Green Lake, 8; 
Vilas, 5; Winnebago, 30; Langlade, 4; Outagamie, 21; Kewaunee, 
3; Milwaukee, 25; making 128. 

Of the 957 those from the following counties and districts were 
for Mr. Baenscli: First district of Brown county, 11; first dis- 
trict of Columbia, 9; Door, 9; Florence, 2; Gates, 3; Iron, 5; 
Jefferson, 15; Kenosha, 12; first district of LaCrosse, 11; Lang- 
lade, 2; Lincoln, 9; Manitowoc, 17; Marathon, 19; second district 
of Marinette, 9; Marquette, 6; Milwaukee, 38 2/3, (or perhaps 
only 37); Ozaukee, 5; Eock, 32; Sauk, 18; Shawano, 13; first 
district of Sheboygan, 10; Walworth, 20; first district of Wau- 
kesha, 10; Pepin, 4; Pierce, 14, and Washington, 10; making in 
all 313 2/3. 

Of the 957 delegates those from the following counties and dis- 
tricts were for LaFollette: Adams, 6; Barron, 12; Bayfield, 10 
second district of Brown, 8; Buffalo, 8; Burnett, 4; Chippewa, 13 
Clark, 15; second district of Columbia, 10; Crawford, 9; Dane, 37 
Douglas, 18; Dunn, 12; Forest, 2; second district of Grant, 12 
Green, 12; Iowa, 13; Jackson, 11; Juneau, 12; Kewaunee, 4; sec- 
ond district of LaCrosse, 10; Lafayette, 11; first district of Mari- 
nette, 1; Milwaukee, 58 1/3; Monroe, 15; Oneida, 7; Polk, 11; 
Portage, 13; Price, 7; Kacine, 24; Richland, 10; Sawyer, 3; sec- 
ond district of LaCrosse, 10; Lafayette, 11; first district of Mari- 
13; making for LaFollette 515 1/3. 

Now as to the contests. There were contests in the following 
counties and districts: Ashland, 12; first district of Dodge, 9; 
second district of Dodge, 10; first district of Eau Claire, 9; sec- 
ond district of Eau Claire, 9; first district of Grant, 11; Oconto, 
11; St. Croix, 13; Milwaukee, second ward, 5; fourth ward, 6; 
fourteenth ward, 3; seventeenth ward, 5, and eighteenth ward, 5; 
making in all the 108 contested delegates. 

Before we examine these contests it may be well to state a few 
other facts. On May 11 the state central committee gave notice 
that it would meet at Madison on Tuesday, May 17, at 9 o'clock 
a. m., to pass upon the delegates to the state convention. 

Let us examine briefly the contests where the state central com- 
mittee recommended that the stalwart delegates be given seats in 
the convention. In the assembly district convention for the first 
district of Dodge county — it was claimed that the LaFollette men 
had 31 delegates to 29 of the opposition, without counting proxies. 
A motion was made that no proxies be allowed, which was declared 
out of order by the stalwart chairman. It was further claimed 
that no legal caucuses were held in three towns which sent stal- 



342 LaFollette's Winking of Wisconsin 

wart delegates; that if tliese delegates had not been permitted to 
take |>art in the convention the LaFollette men would have been 
in the majority, and I think these claims were true, but notwith- 
standing that, the state central committee voted unanimously to 
j.lace the stalwart delegates on the temporary roll of the conven- 
tion. This added nine to the Baensch vote. 

To the assembly district convention in the second district of 
Dodge county 42 delegates were elected — 22 in favor of LaFollette 
and 20 in opposition. 

At the convention the vote stood 2;i for Baensch delegates and 
19 for LaFollette delegates. How was this change brought about? 
By three delegates who proved false to the men who elected them. 
The only excuse given for this change was that a delegate had the 
right to change his mind. Well, the state central committee gave 
those votes to Mr. Baensch, and the people were cheated out of 
their rights. 

The stalwart delegates from the fourth, fourteenth, seventeenth 
and eighteenth wards of the city of Milwaukee were seated by 
the committee, 19 in all. No delegates from the second ward 
were seated, because of the frauds committed at the caucus. 

In the St. Croix convention there was a mix-up. I have read 
carefully the statements made by parties at the Opera House 
caucus, or convention as «ome are pleased to call it, and find it 
very difficult to determine which party had the majority of the 
delegates in the county convention. One of the parties there said, 
"our voting strength was at least 35 to their .34," while the La- 
Follette men claimed they had a majority of two. I suppose it 
wa.s hard for the committee to determine the matter and so they 
concluded to divide the delegation between both parties, as is 
often done, and by the action they added 6^/4 to the LaFollette 
column. This the stalwart members of the committee did not 
agree to. They insisted on placing the whole 13 stalwart dele- 
gates on the temporary roll, and recommending that the 13 stal- 
wart delegates be given j)ermanent seats in the convention. This, 
a« I have said, gave 43V:: votes in the convention to the Baensch 
vote, making it in all 3o7 1/6. 

Now what about the other contests.' In Ashland county the 
LaFollette men elected 17 delegates to the county convention and 
Iho opposition only 14. The county was then for LaFollette. Two 
of the LaFollette delegates remained away from the convention, 
/or what reason does not appear. It does appear, however, that 
neither of them cvor informed any of the other LaFollette dele- 
gates that they would not attend the convention. The 13 LaFol- 
lette delegates attended the convention and the 14 in opposition 



Prb-Convention Contksts 343 

also. A ballot was taken for delegates. The stalwart chairman 
announced it 15 votes for stalwart delegates and 14 for LaFollette 
delegates. The 15 LaFollette men immediately arose and insisted 
tliat there was a mistake, or fraud, but they could get no redress. 
The 15 men organized into a convention and elected the 12 dele- 
gates they had voted for before, and made affidavits to the facts. 
Tf the chairman or teller had made a mistake in the count it ought 
to have been corrected, of course. Well, the state central com- 
mittee decided to put these 12 LaFollette delegates from Ashland 
county on the temjiorary roll of the convention, which was clearly 
right. 

In the convention for the second district of Dodge county, the 
total number of delegates under the call was 89. Legal notices 
of the caucuses in three precincts were not given, which reduced 
the number to 80, and of this number the LaFollette men had 43 
and the opposition 37. On a vote for temporary chairman a di- 
vision was called for and refused. A demand for a ballot was 
refused by the stalwart chairman. A committee on credentials 
was appointed which refused to give the LaFollette men a hearing. 
The LaFollette men withdrew and organized a convention and 
elected delegates to the state convention and these ten delegates 
were placed upon the temporary roll of the convention by the state 
central committee. 

The next in order is the first district of Eau Claire county. It 
was clearly shown that the LaFollette delegates were in the ma- 
jority in this convention. The minority began to bulldoze. It 
was almost a free fight. The majority withdrew to an adjoining 
room and there elected the delegates, and these nine delegates 
were placed upon the temporary roll of the convention by the 
unanimous vote of the state central committee. 

Under the call for the assembly district convention of Grant 
county 94 delegates were to be elected. When they came to the 
convention they stood 52 for LaFollette and 42 for the opposition. 
In the caucus at Potosi there was a tie vote, and the parties agreed 
to divide the delegates, four for LaFollette and three for Baensch, 
and that was done, and these delegates attended the convention. 
Afterward a young man made affidavit that he was not 21 years 
of age and that he had voted for the LaFollette delegates. If true, 
and he had not voted at all, then seven Baensch delegates would 
have been elected from the town of Potosi, and the convention 
would have stood 4S for LaFollette delegates and 46 for the oppo- 
sition. 

To overcome this majority the stalwarts contended that Beetown 
should have two votes in the convention, although the town was 



344 LaFollette's Winning of Wisconsin 

entitled to six. The town of Beetown at its caucus elected six 
LaFollette delegates and the caucus authorized those present at 
the convention, in case of vacancy, to cast the full vote of the 
town. Only two of the six attended the convention and they 
claimed tlie right to cast the full vote of the town. This right was 
granted to them by the convention. If the stalwarts could have 
deprived the town of Beetown of four of its votes they would 
have had the majority of the convention. These were the facts 
as to the Grant county convention. The state central committee 
voted unanimously to seat the LaFollette delegates from this dis- 
trict. And the committee did right. 

In Oconto county, under the call, 88 delegates were to be 
elected. The south ward of the city of Oconto was entitled to 
six delegates in the convention, but there was really no election 
of delegates in that ward. A stalwart teller in that ward swept 
the ballots off the table onto the floor where they became mixed 
with otlier ballots. When they were picked uj) it was found that 
the number of ballots did not agree with the number of names on 
the tally sheet. The chairman and secretary of the caucus refused 
to certify to the election of any delegates, stating that it was im- 
possible for them to tell who had the majority of the votes. But 
the stalwarts sent a delegation to represent this ward, and they 
were permitted to take part in the convention. At a caucus of 
LaFollette delegates held only a few minutes before the county 
cniivcntion met there were i>resent and represented by proxy 4;'ji^ 
votes, a clear majority of the whole number. During the interim 
the stalwarts in some way induced a LaFollette delegate holding 
two ])roxies to leave and not take part in the convention and an- 
other LaFollette delegate who took part in the said caucus was 
induced to leave the administration side and join the opposition. 

That disposed of four LaFollette votes. At the convention the 
stalwart chairman of the county committee called the convention 
to order, and refused a ballot for temporary chairman, although 
there were two candidates. 

A committee on credentials was appointed by hini in the same 
way, every one of which was a stalwart. In one town a caucus 
was hold on due notice at which three LaFollette delegates were 
elected. Another caucus was held at another part of the town, 
without notice, at which three opfiosition delegates were elected, 
and the stalwart committee on credentials voted to seat the last 
three in the convention. In another town a caucus was duly held 
at which one LaFollette delegate was elected, and there was a 
tie as to the other three. After the result was announced the 
stalwarts hold another caucus and pretended to elect three stal- 



Pbe-Con\t;ntion Contests 345 

wart delegates and oue LaFollette delegate, and these delegates 
the committee ou credentials attempted to seat in the convention. 
Another town was only entitled to two delegates but they seated 
three in the convention, and all of them were stalwarts. And the 
committee reported in favor of seating six delegates from the ward 
above mentioned where there was uo election of delegates. And 
then a ballot was refused ou the adoption of the report of the 
committee. Then the LaFollette delegates withdrew and held a 
convention and by a vote of 41 1/^ elected the delegates which were 
seated by the state central committee in the state convention. It 
is clear that Oconto county was rightly i)laced in the LaFollette 
column. 

As I have already said, 6V2 delegates from St. Croix county 
were given to LaFollette, making 591^, which added to tlie HI') 1/'.) 
make 574 5/6, to 485 1/6 for both Cook and Baensch. 

But suppose you s;p' that you think the opposition was entitled 
to St. Croix county. Well, and let us give to them the benefit of 
all doubts as to Oconto county and the second district of Dodge, 
making 27^2 in all, and add that number to their 485 1/6, making 
512 2/3, and even add to that the five from the second ward of 
Milwaukee (to which they are in no way entitled), making a total 
of 517 2/3, and they are still 40 short of what they claim they had 
at their convention at the opera house. That would still leave the 
LaFollette ticket 547 1/3, fourteen more than a majority of the 
whole 1,065. 

This only gives to the LaFollette ticket, of the contested dele- 
gates, Ashland, 12 ; first district of Eau Claire, 9, and first district 
of Grant, 11; and no fair man will say that would not be just and 
honest. All these 547 1/3 delegates remained in the gymnasium 
convention and voted for the LaFollette ticket. I therefore con- 
cluded that the LaFollette ticket was fairly nominated and en- 
titled to the support of the republican party of the state. 



CHAPTER XXIII 

The Opera House Caucus. 

RuMOKs OF Possible Rioting — Extraordinary Precautions 
Taken — Great Excitement in Madison — Stalwarts Hold 
' ' Caucus ' ' Meeting in Opera House — Fiery Speech by M. G. 
Jeffris — Stalwarts March to Gymnasium — Must Run Gaunt- 
let OF Guards — Incidents of Opening of Convention. 

IvI'MOKS of possible violence at the state eonvention 
were current long before the convention day arrived. 
The fact that the stalwarts for some time had leased the 
Fuller fii)era house at Madison and retained attorneys to 
safeguard their legal rights indicated their determination 
upon an aggressive course. Physical clashes had oc- 
curred at some of the caucuses and conventions, notably 
at Janesville, and many regarded similar outbreaks at 
the state convention as more than possible. 

Because of this fact and the general excitement pre- 
vailing, great crowds of rival partisans and interested 
politicians poured into Madison the day before the con- 
vention. Practically every incoming train had its 
crowded extra coaches. Excited throngs filled the hotel 
lobbies and streets, and the air was charged with the 
electricity of controversy and apprehension. 

The action of the state central committee in seating a 
majority of LaFollette delegates fanned into flame the 
discontent which was consuming many of the ardent 
opponents of the administration. Accordingly when the 
stalwarts, in conformity with their call, met in "caucus" 
in the opera house that evening the feeling of appre- 
hension and exertement was heightened. 

This opera house gathering was one of the remarkable 
features of the campaign that year and wholly unpre- 
cedented in state i)()litical historv. 



The Opera House Caucus 347 

Never before had a factional body of such magnitude 
met on the eve of a state convention and in open and de- 
fiant speech practically declared war to the knife on an 
opposing faction. It had none of the characteristics of 
a caucus ; the slates had already been made up ; there 
was no secrecy ; the doors were thrown wide open to 
the public. Obviously the purpose of the meeting was to 
give vent to the feelings raging in the bosoms of an 
exasperated opposition and to create, if possible, a wave 
of prejudice against the administration. When the 
meeting was called to order by T. W. Spence of Milwau- 
kee, the house was filled with an eager, expectant throng. 
A sort of official tone was given the occasion by the pres- 
ence in the boxes of former Governors Upham and Sco- 
field, Federal Judge Bunn and other notables. Spence 
proposed for chairman of the meeting M. G. Jeffris of 
Janesville, who met the expectations of the occasion by 
delivering a most fiery and scathing denunciation of 
Governor LaFollette and the administration. The state 
central committee was also roundly scored and the 
speaker hinted broadly of rioting and violence in the con- 
vention the follr>wing day were the ''rights of any dele- 
gates overridden by the administration." 

After a number of other fervent speakers had been 
heard the gathering adopted amid resounding cheers a 
resolution that "fhe anti-third-term delegates should 
meet at the opera house at 11 o'clock the next morning 
and march in a body to the gymnasium and demand their 
rights." Tt boded ill for a peaceful morrow. 

In the course of the day a mysterious badge inscribed 
"Hiker" had made its appearance and soon came to be 
generally worn by stalwart delegates and adherents. Its 
import none seemed to know. The stalwarts explained 
afterwards that the term was borrowed from the army in 
the Philippines and meant "one who walks," hence one 
who favored walking out of the convention ; but the ad- 



348 LaFollette's Winning of Wisconsin 

ministration leaders regarded the badge with more sus- 
picion. They professed to fear it had a more sinister 
significance which would later develop. 

Promptly at the appointed hour the following morning 
the stalwart delegates and other "hikers" formed in 
line four abreast in the street in front of the opera house, 
and with two American flags at their head marched to 
the gymnasium nearly a mile away. 

It was on arriving at their destination at the gym- 
nasium that they were first impressed in a manner cal- 
culated to sober any mutinous feelings that might be 
burning within them. 

In anticipation of trouble and possible rioting, the most 
extraordinary precautions had been taken by the admin- 
istration forces. Adolph H. Kaj^ser of Madison, a man 
of- powerful plwsique and undoubted courage, had been 
appointed sergeant-at-arms for the convention. He an- 
nexed to himself a regiment of assistants and trans- 
formed the gymnasium into a scene not unlike a penal 
institution. 

A powerful wire fence eight feet high was built square 
across the hall to separate the delegates and spectators 
and prevent their ' ' mixing up ' ' in case of trouble. The 
north half of the hall was assigned to the delegates. 
Spectators were admitted at the regular front entrance 
at the south, but the delegates were directed to a smaller 
door on the Avest side. Extending out some distance 
from the side door was built a runway through which 
delegates had to pass in single file. The runway also 
extended up the stairs to an inner door, and eleven feet 
into the building. These preparations had been maJe in 
the face of Ihe protest of Chief of Police H. C. Baker of 
Madison, who not only refused to supply the police force 
desired, but compelled Kayser to loosen certain doors 
that had been padlocked and braced. A long contro- 
versy between Raker and administration representatives 



I 



The Opera House Caucus 349 

occurred later on in the campaign in which affidavits 
were freely exchanged over these matters. The stal- 
wart press roundly denounced the precautions taken as 
an insult to the delegates and the Milwaukee Sentinel 
painted a lurid editorial picture of the dire possibilities 
had a fire broken out during the convention. At each 
side of the outer end of the runway stood several brawny 
guards to regulate the inflowing stream of humanity, 
while a brigade of deputies, sheriffs and special guards 
stretched on each side up the steps to the inner door 
where were still others acting as ushers. Bull-throated 
giants from near and far had been drafted into service. 
There was Evan Lewis, the famous strangler and one- 
time champion wrestler of the world; Fred KuU, the 
towering center rush of the university football team a 
decade before ; Levi Pollard of iron frame ; Ed. Vander- 
boom, "Dick" Remp, "Norsky" Larson and other re- 
nowned football warriors ; besides present and past peace 
officers, blacksmiths, etc., of strong arm and tried cour- 
age. It is said there were also fifty students from the 
athletic teams of the university inside and outside the 
building ready to spring at a signal to take a hand in 
suppressing any rioting that might occur. A couple of 
these guards had done time for various offenses in the 
past which later provided the opposition with much food 
for merriment and gave Chief of Police Baker an excuse 
for sending home eight of his men whom he said he would 
not humiliate by having them associate with jailbirds 
and wife-beaters. 

Tickets countersigned by the state central committee 
were required of both spectators and delegates and as 
each side charged the other with having printed counter- 
feit tickets over night everyone admitted was "man- 
handled," as the stalwarts declared, by these guards, 
much to the resentment of many dignified party war- 
horses of the past whose entrance upon other conventions 



360 LaFollettk's Winning of Wisconsin 

they recalled had been marked with pomp and circum- 
stance, with deference and salvos from the admiring 
tTowds. What a pitiful and humiliating contrast this ! 
Hut swallowing their pride they fell out of ranks and— 
some with smiles, others with flushed faces and sharp 
words of censure — filed singly into the building. The 
stern spirit of the proceedings was shown when one, Col- 
onel Boyle, was held up by "Ed" Tracy, a guard. Chief 
of Police Baker stepped forward and said, "This is 
Colonel Boyle of the Chicago, Milwaukee & St. Paul 
railroad. " " That 's no recommend, ' ' retorted Tracy. Not 
until .Sergeant Kayser interceded was Boyle admitted. 
Many of the delegates who had been refused seats by 
the state central committee sought admission to the dele- 
pate section and some of them created "scenes" when 
denied entrance, but were summarily hustled from the 
entrance by the resolute officials. Such were the circum- 
stances of the opening of this memorable and last repub- 
lican state convention in Wisconsin. 



CHAPTER XXIV 
Gymnasium Convention. 

Intense Interest Taken in Proceedings — Fears of Outbreak 
AT Opening — Stalwart Leaijer Jeffris Overruled — Great 
Demonstration at Chairman Lenroot's Mention of LaFol- 
lette's Name — The Rosenberry Incident — First Test Vots 
Gives Administration Majority — Stalwart Leaders Protest 
and Cook Pleads for Party Peace — Jeffris Leads Bolt of 
Baensch Delegates from Hall — Cook Delegates Remain. 

L/ ONG before the stroke of noon every available part 
of room in the great convention hall at the university 
gymnasium was occupied by an eager throng consumed 
with expectancy, curiosity, apprehension. The great 
drama was about to open. The crisis in the party was 
at hand and the supreme hour in LaPoUette 's great fight. 
Would he have the convention in hand; was the party 
finally to destroy itself; would there be violence and a 
test of physical strength between the excited partisans 
now under such high tension of belligerency ? These 
were among the questions each asked himself and his 
neighbor. Mrs. LaFoUette and her children and a few 
friends came in and amid a hearty round of applause 
took seats on the stage. As with the utmost serenity they 
sat and surveyed the flag-draped hall and the scene before 
them many trembled for their safety in the event of an 
outbreak. 

Was Mrs. LaFollette unaware of the more than pos- 
sible danger of her situation, they asked? Surely one; 
so intelligent and in such close touch with the develop- 
ments of the last few hours could not be. Perhaps be- 
cause of the very danger of a physical struggle she had 
braveh' resolved to project herself into the situation that 
the influence of her presence might to that degree re- 



;J52 LaFollette's Winning of Wisconsin 

strain the passions threatening to burst their bounds. A 
more timid woman would have shrunk from the sacrifice. 
Whatever the facts, it cannot be denied that the presence 
of Mrs. LaFollette and the other women on the stage 
had a sol)ering influence upon the great gathering. It is 
perhaps not too much to say that but for her resolution 
to attend the proceedings factional rivalry might have 
gone to more unfortunate lengths than it did. 

The venerable Chairman Bryant, imperturbable as 
destiny, also was an object of solicitude as he moved 
about arranging the final setting. 

The university students, who hung from windows and 
girders all over the building, alone seemed possessed of 
a spirit of levit3\ Periodically the Wisconsin yell and 
other calls would be given in resounding fashion, inter- 
spersed with this adaptation of a then popular football 
song: 

Cheer! Boys, clieer! LaFollette 's got the ball! 
U-rah-ah! Oh, won't they take a fall? 
For when we hit their line they'll have no line at all! 
There 'II be a hot time in Wisconsin toniglit, my baby ! 

The newspapermen, of whom hundreds seemed to have 
been drawn to the scene from near and far, were fever- 
ishly alert. A series of long picnic tables, with seats on 
both sides and stretching clear across the hall, had been 
set up for thorn in front of the speakers' platform at the 
north end, and a stream of bulletins flowed from the 
building long before the convention opened and as the 
drama progressed toward the first clash of arms. 

Practical!}' from the close of Chaplain Updike's prayer 
the convention was in an unroar, and only the extraor- 
dinary police precautions taken and the firmness and 
fairness of Chairman Lenroot prevented a physical clash. 
The i)raycr ended, General George E. Bryant, as chair- 
man of the state central committee, announced that the 
committee had passed upon the credentials of the dele- 



Gymnasium Co.\vi.,\ i iox 353 

gates and that the secretary would call the roll. Mr. 
Jeffris, the stalwart floor leader, at once protested and 
demanded that the convention be first temporarily or- 
ganized. Asked to make a motion to dispense with the 
reading, he declared: 

We do not want to dispense with it; but the order of business is 
to appoint a temporary chairman. 

Mr. Jelfns was declared out of order by Chairman 
Bryant and the roll of delegates as made up by the state 
central committee was read, following which General 
Bryant announced the selection by the committee of I. 
L. Lenroot of Superior for chairman of the convention, 
C. 0. Marsh of Antigo for secretary and Adolph H. 
Kayser of Madison for sergeant-at-arms. These were 
then duly installed without dissent. Mr. Lenroot then 
gave his address. This was a ringing, militant effort, in 
strong defense of the administration. His first mention 
of LaFollette's name precipitated a demonstration that 
lasted nearly a half hour, according to the hostile State 
Journal's account. 

At only one point may this address be said to have 
struck an unresponsive chord with both friend and foe. 
In opening his address Chairman Lenroot said: 

This great gathering of the republican party of Wisconsin will 
be memorable in many ways; it will be memorable as the last 
repuljlican convention in Wisconsin for the nomination of state 
officers. 

So tense was the feeling of battle, so eager the spirit 
of conflict, that when he uttered the prophetic words, a 
secret feeling of disappointment that such occasions were 
passing seized upon the hearts of many of his hearers, 
in spite of the applause which greeted the declaration. 

Shortly before Mr. Lenroot began his speech M. B. 
Rosenberry of Wausau, a stalwart member of the state 
central committee, took a seat on the stage just behind 
Mr. Lenroot. Immediately throe husky young guards of 

23 



;{54 LaFollette's Winning of Wisconsin 

the convention took seats about Mr. Rosenberry, prac- 
tically surrounding him. The significance of this latter 
movement was perhaps not grasped by the great assem- 
l)lag(', but it was a precaution taken by the administra- 
tion managers to forestall what was believed to be a plot 
to take over the machinery of the convention by force. 
In other words, it was believed that the closing of Mr. 
Lenroot's speecli was to be the signal for Mr. Rosenberry 
to step forward, take the gavel from Mr. Lenroot by 
force and precipitate a riot at once. If such were the 
scheme it was quickly nipped, for scarcely had Mr. Rosen- 
berry risen to his feet before he was forced back into 
his chair b}' the guards about him. Only when he finally 
announced that his purpose was simply to ask the sub- 
stitution of the minority report for the majority was he 
permitted, at the suggestion of General Bryant, to come 
forward. 

The stalwart view of this episode and the explanation 
of Mr. Rosenberry 's action are given in Mr. Philipp's 
history as follows: 

Before the convention was organized M. B. Eosenberry, a mem- 
ber of the minority of the state central committee, made a request 
of the chairman, General Bryant, that he, Rosenberry, be recog- 
nized by the temporary cliairman of the convention for the pur- 
jpose of presenting a minority report of the state central committee, 
siguo<l by six members. He was told to make arrangements with 
Mr. Lenroot, who was to be temporary chairman, which he did, 
and was given a promise that lie would be recognized immediately 
after tlie close of the temporary chairman's address. Mr. Eoseu- 
l.orry took a seat on the platform eiglit or ten feet to the left of, 
and behind the stand at which Mr. Lenroot stood when he ad- 
dressed the convention. As he sat down he was surrounded by three 
jiersons, strangers to him, each a noteworthy example of physical 
jirowess and each wearing a badge that indicated that he was an 
assistant to the sergeant-at-arms. These three men refused to allow 
Mr. Rosenberry to move or change his position at any time, but 
forcibly held him in his seat until Mr. Lenroot had finished his 
address. At the appointed time Mr. Eosenberry arose to his feet, 
with his guards still clustered about liim, althougli lie had ex- 



Gymnasium Cokvkntion 355 

plained to them who he was and that he had the consent of Gen- 
eral Bryant and Mr. Lenroot to his presence. In spite of this 
explanation, and although Mr. Rosenberry had several times re- 
quested his guards to cease interfering with his freedom, they 
persisted in their surveillance over his acts. 

It may be added that when Mr. Rosenberry had completed the 
reading of his report and attempted to move that it be substituted 
for the majority report, he was seized by his guards and forced 
into his chair. Mr. Rosenberry presented the minority report of 
the committee which he read. 

In its official call for the convention the state central 
committee had requested that all delegates have their cre- 
dentials signed by the chairmen and secretaries of their 
respective counties, without specifying that they be also 
signed by the chairmen and secretaries of the conventions 
electing them. Later in the course of the controversy 
the majority of the committee explained that it had as- 
sumed as a matter of course that the credentials would 
be signed by the chairmen and secretaries of the conven- 
tions, and also that no credentials were to be regarded 
as too sacred to go behind if necessary. 

Nevertheless the minority determined that its policy 
should be to insist on the seating of all delegates bearing 
credentials signed by the officers of the county commit- 
tees regardless of any other signatures. 

The minority report stated in part: 

We are of the opinion that the duty of the committee in making 
up the temporary roll for the state convention is limited to placing 
upon said roll all delegates who have been certified by the chairman 
and secretary of the respective county committees. . . . That 
the committee in the exercise of its functions as a committee upon 
credentials to hear contests has no power except to ascertain the 
facts and report the same, with its conclusions thereon, to the 
convention for its action. . . . That the act of the committee, 
as set out in its report whereby it attempts to determine contests 
and deprive duly accredited delegates of their right to a seat in 
the convention, usurps the power of the convention itself, and 
deprives it of its right to determine the qualifications of its own 
niembors. 



350 LaFoi.lettk's Winning of Wisconsin 

The report Avas further interesting from the fact 
that its signers who but a few hours before had unani- 
mously agreed to the seating of the LaFollette delegates 
from the first districts in Eau Claire and Grant counties 
now reversed themselves and declared for the stalwart 
delegates from these districts. 

Mr. Rosenberry was not permitted to enter upon a 
debate and L. H. Bancroft moved the adoption of the 
majorit}^ report. Mr. Rosenberry moved to substitute 
the minority report, but was declared out of order. A 
wrangle followed over this ruling and the chair appealed 
to A. R. Ilall, who was present as a delegate. 

■"1 think the chair is wrong in its ruling," said Mr. 
Hall ; ''it is proper to consider the minority report first." 

Mr. Rosenberry then took the floor in support of his 
motion and attacked the action of the state central com- 
mittee as arbitrary and unfair. Judge Bancroft fol- 
lowed with a fiery reply. "There never was a time in 
Wisconsin," he said, "when the majority report of the 
convention's regularly constituted committee on creden- 
tials was voted down. And it won't be today!" An 
equally fiery rejoinder came from Mr. Jeffris. 

"I ask you LaFollette delegates," he shouted, "by 
what autliority the gentleman from Richland knows how 
you are going to vote?" 

Hisses and groans greeted the speaker, whereupon 
E. R. Hicks, the Cook leader, made a long and fervent 
plea for party peace. 

"Oh, my friends in this party," he said, "1 believe it 
is not too late to save ourselves. The handwriting — yes, 
it is upon the wall. Today your kingdom is divided and 
your scepter will go to another if you do this thing." 

In conclusion Mr. Hicks moved, "that those persons 
be entitled to vote upon this question who hold certifi- 
cates of election to this convention signed by the chair- 
man and secretary of the countv committees as the law 



Gymnasium Conve>tion 



357 



JUDICIAL CIRCUITS OF WISCONSIN 

Showing the Population of the State 

by Counties — Census of 1900 

Total Population 2,069,042 




Republican caucus map 1904, dark counties carried by Stal- 
warts, as seated by state central committee and on first test vote 



.(58 I.aFollette's Winning of Wisconsin 

requiri's and that this convention herewith have sub- 
mitted to it in detail ever}^ controverted judgment upon 
what shall be done without the vote of anybody inter- 
ested." 

^Ir. Bancroft made the point of order against the 
Hicks motion and was sustained by the chair, who quoted 
a like ruling by McKinley at the republican national 
convention in 1892, whereupon Ilicks appealed from the 
chair and brought on the first test vote. 

After some preliminary skirmishing and an attempt 
by ]\Ir. Jeffris to have the whole matter re-referred to 
the state central committee the previous question was 
finally ordered on the sustaining of the chair. 

Amid breathless silence the roll proceeded. The first 
crucial test had come and while all realized that the ad- 
ministration had seated a majority of delegates the ques- 
tion arose in the minds of many whether under the fierce 
passions aroused and the determined onslaughts of the 
stalwarts all Avould stand firm. AVere the chair to be 
overruled it were difficult to imagine the extent to which 
things might go. Hundreds of pencils at the press table 
and throughout the building became immediately busy 
keeping a tally of the vote. Before the roll was ended a 
mighty wave of applause burst over the hall and con- 
tinued for several minutes. The chair had been sus- 
tained. The administration had won in the first test 
and realizing tiie moral value of such victory its repre- 
sentatives were jubilant. 

The vote resulted, ayes, 574 5-6; noes, 485 1-6. Then 
after overruling obstructive motions made by T. W. 
Sjience and General F. C. Winkler of Milwaukee, the 
chair put the question of the substitution of the minority 
report for the majority so far as related to Ashland 
county. Tlie motion failed, 485 1-6 to 562 5-6. Evi- 
dently the administration was to have a substantial ma- 
jority Ihroughoul the proceedings. 



Gymnasium Convkmiox 359 

Then one by one the other contested counties were 
similarly disposed of, Dodge, Eaii Claire, Grant, Oconto 
and St. Croix, and after the minority' had been voted 
down upon all of them the process was reversed and the 
majority report upon each adopted. At each ballot Mr. 
Jeffris or some other stalwart delegate w^oiild arise and 
formally protest against counting the votes of delegates 
who had been protested (by the stalwarts), but the steam 
roller went remorselessly on to the end. 

The last contested delegation seated, George B. Hud- 
nall of Superior moved that the temporary organization 
be made permanent. It was now 5:45 o'clock, although 
under the great excitement of the occasion many dele- 
gates had utterly forgotten the flight of time and con- 
fessed afterwards that temporarily they had imagined it 
was still morning as many of them had eaten nothing 
since breakfast. The time for the threatened bolt had 
arrived; to have participated further would have 
amounted practically to a concession of the regularity of 
the proceedings. 

Accordingly before the roll call was ordered Mr. Jeffris 
jumped from his seat and shouted : "I ask the privilege 
of announcing that all anti-third-term delegates in this 
convention are requested to meet in caucus at the Fuller 
opera house at 8 o'clock tonight!" A tremendous up- 
roar followed this announcement, with great cheering by 
Baensch delegates and hisses and groans from the La- 
FoUette supporters. The Cook men sat stolidly in their 
seats. Secretary Marsh began calling the roll. Led by 
Mr. Jeffris, the Baensch delegates then began leaving 
the hall, Mr. Jeffris' parting shot as he passed out of the 
door being. ' ' I protest that this convention is not legally 
organized. ' ' 

W. C. Cowling of Oshkosh also arose and declared that 
it was the Avish of Senators Spooner and Quarles that 
their names be not presented to this convention "for 



;{(jO LaFollette's Winning of Wisconsin 

delegates to the republican national convention." Shouts 
of "Don't Worry!" and "'Xo Danger!" greeted this an- 
nouncement. 

Tlie Cook delegates remained in llieir seats, apparently 
awaiting the word of their leader, Mr. Hicks. Obtain- 
ing the floor while the bolt was in progress Hicks made 
a long and fervent plea for cooler counsel and harmony. 
"Oh, my countrymen!" he said, "we cannot lightly do 
this thing. * * * If we must do it let the undoing 
of republicanism come from w'ithout and not from 
within." 

Hicks also deplored the bolt, saying amid cheers: 
My friends, I speak with no other design or purpose than to 
simply justify myself and the men who believe with me in this 
convention, and the candidate whose interest we espouse and here 
declare to be paramount to all factions. I am here to say to you 
that no other convention, no other place, no other aggregation of 
so-called representatives of the republican party demands, nor will 
receive, the approval or co-oi)eration of that portion of this con- 
ventioii which is here in the interest of republicanism today. 
I wish here and now, and I must ask your indulgence 
for a moment — here and now. I wish to say in behalf of Mr. Cook 
and the delegation in this convention, that if this motion prevails 
we believe that it is actuated by and consummated through a 
greater desire for the perpetuity of factionalism than the ex- 
altation of republicanism, and that a convention so organized is 
not a fair rejiresentation as it comes from the hands of the people, 
and while we will not bolt, we will be true, we are not — I am 
speaking for this handful in this convention — we are not political 
liypocrites. 

Mr. Hicks also fought for time by moving a recess 
until evening and later until the next morning, but failed 
and Mr. Hudnall pressed his motion on permanent or- 
ganization. 

This failure of the Cook delegates to leave the hall 
sliow(;d the lack of a complete understanding between 
liie allies and was the big tactical blunder of the stal- 
warts. 

]W remaining to vote they thus helped to permanently 



Gv .\I N ASIUM COA Vi;.\TI(>\ 361 

organize the couveution by a vote «o great as to put its 
regularity beyond any question. No other convention 
could now be held without adjournment by a majority 
vote from the gymnasium to some other place, a fact 
privately admitted by the stalwart attorneys in the litiga- 
tion following. To a convention, as to a court, four 
things are essential, time and place, delegates and officers. 
All these qualifications the gymnasium convention had 
obtained through regular channels. Thus by remaining 
and voting on the question of organization, and then 
finally joining forces with the original seceders, the Cook 
men became greater bolters than the more consistent 
Jeffris following. After the bolt the vote on permanent 
organization stood 574 5-6 to 129 2-3, the latter figure 
representing the Cook strength. 

On motion of H. W. Chynoweth of ]\Iadison, the chair 
then appointed the committee on resolutions which was 
headed by Mr. Chynoweth. Four stalwarts, including 
Charles F. Pfister of Milwaukee, were included in this 
committee, but took no part in its proceedings. 

Then came up the question of adjournment for the 
day. Not a few delegates favored remaining in the hall 
all night lest the seceders, like some Latin American 
revolutionary army, return under cover of darkness and 
cax^ture the building. Mr. Bancroft was among those 
fearing such ruse. However, Mr. Chynoweth believed 
that with a small force left on guard the hall would be 
safe and moved adjournment until the next morning 
that the committee on resolutions might have time to 
complete its work. The motion prevailed and an event- 
ful day in AVisconsin's political history closed at this 
point, as far as this particular convention was concerned. 



CHAPTER XXV 

The Opera House Convention. 

Floor Leader Jeffris Again Attacks Administration — Con- 
vention Opens Amid Great Enthusiasm — Baensch Withdraws 
AND Cook Placed in Nomination — "Big Guns" of Party Heard 
— Ovation for Spooner. 

W IIP]X the stalwart "caucus" opened at 9 o'clock 
that evening the opera house was jammed to the doors 
with an expectant throno;. Amid a tumult of applause 
General F. C. Winkler of Milwaukee called the meeting 
to order and appropriately nominated for chairman Mr. 
Jeffris, the stalwart floor leader at the gymnasium con- 
vention. In accepting the chairmanship Mr. Jeffris fired 
his hearers to continued enthusiasm with a speech similar 
to the one he had made the night before from the same 
platform. 

For instance, on the subject of game wardens, he said : 
"We believe game laws should be administered for the 
protection of wild game and not the shooting down of 
tame citizens." Col. William J. Anderson was made 
secretary of the convention and wuth the naming of 
committees on credentials and resolutions adjournment 
was taken until 9 o'clock next morning, while a list of 
delegates was made up in various irregular ways, in- 
cluding the drafting of distant visitors to the city. 

Next day the convention proper opened. The morning 
was spent in an extended presentation of the administra- 
tion's "caucus steals," Spencer Haven of St. Croix 
county, and others being heard. Each speaker detailed 
the proceedings in his particular locality and justified the 
stalwart course pursued. This relieved Chairman Jef- 
fris. whose voice appeared to be completely gone after his 



Tm; Opera House Coiwkn iiox 363 

efforts of the two previous eveiuno:s. Then came the 
afternoon session. 

With a brigade of the "big guns" of the party present 
to stir the assemblage to the highest pitch of enthusiasm, 
this afternoon meeting satisfied all the orthodox require- 
ments of the old-fashioned republican state conventions. 
And indeed it was a most remarkable gathering. With 
the two United States senators present, two former gov- 
ernors of the state, several members of congress and 
many former and present members of the legislature and 
state officers, well might the shades of the departed 
fathers have wondered how there could be another repub- 
lican party in the state. A militant enthusiastic spirit 
marked the meeting from the beginning, "The chair 
has been informed," remarked Chairman Jeffris, "that 
there is a bolting convention in session somewhere in the 
state, but this convention has nothing to do with it." 

Interesting situations came on apace, the first being 
caused by the sudden appearance of Judge Baensch on 
the stage in withdrawal of his candidacy for the nomina- 
tion for governor. The action of the Cook delegates in 
not'promptty leaving the gymnasium at the word of Mr. 
Jeffris, the leader, the afternoon before had threatened 
somewhat the harmony of the allies, without which there 
could be no hope, and Baensch had quickly shown the 
white feather. In order to win the Cook delegation to 
the bolt, which was absolutely necessary for appearances 
now, if nothing more, the Baensch leaders had been com- 
pelled the evening before to withdraw their candidate 
and promise the nomination to Cook. On this condition 
alone would the Cook men come over. 

"Sorrowfully, but dutifully," said Baensch, "in the 
interests of harmony ; in the interests of strength, I re- 
lease the delegates that have been instructed for me and 
promise my loyal support to the nominee of this conven- 
tion." 



:;64 I^aFom.kttk's Winxinc or Wisconsin 

Then Mr. Hicks stepped iorward. smiling radiantly 
"Cook!" he began (Api)lause). 

"S. A. Cook!" he continued. (More applause.) 

"Governor 8. A. Cook of the state of Wisconsin!" 
(Great applause.) 

Cook was nominated by acclamation, brought before 
the convention, introduced by ]\Ir. Hicks as the next gov- 
ernor of "Wisconsin, and made a very short and con- 
ventional speech of aece])ta7U'e devoid of any fire what- 
ever. 

In the meantime the platform liad been reported by 
General "Winkler. This declaration was an interesting 
study in connection with the more defiant pronouncement 
issued at the gymnasium. After devoting five planks to 
national subjects and declaring that corporations were 
creatures of the state and subject to regulation it had 
this to say of the issues of the hour : 

All legislative regulation of public ser\dce corporations should 
be characterized by a spirit of justice to the people on the one 
hand and to the great interests which these corporations represent 
on the other. It is oftentimes a problem of difficulty to make that 
fair adjustment which justice requires. 

We favor the enactment of a law creating a railway commission 
of not more than three members to be elected at the spring elec- 
tion with full powers to investigate conditions, to originate actions 
(either ujion complaint or its own initiative) and to enforce (in 
the courts and by such other means as may be providetl by law) 
a strict observance of legal restrictions upon the exercise of cor- 
porate power. 

Tlie last legislature enacted and submitted to the i)eople to be 
voted upon at the general election a proposed primary election law. 
Tills law ])roposes a radical change in the nomination jirocedure of 
all jiartics and affects every elector in the exercise of one of his 
functions, and we approve of the action of tlie republican senate 
in declining to put into immediate operation by a majority vote 
of one party such a law, without first giving an ojiportunity to 
all the voters of the state, each voter upon his own responsibility 
and conscience, to pass upon it at the polls. It has jiassed the 
j)latform stage. If it shall not be the will of the people to do 
away with all tlic conventions in tlic future we favor the enactment 



Tin; Opkka Horsi: CoxvicMutx 365 

of such legislation as sliall provide spcoifieally for the election and 
accrediting of delegates and the legal effect which shall be given 
to credentials duly executed, to the end that it shall be impossible 
for any power but the convention itself to overrule the prima facie 
title of delegates and turn preliminarily a majority into a minor- 
ity. 

Tlie climax of entliusiasm came when C. C. Rogers ap- 
peared upon the platform escorting Senators Spooner 
and Qiiarles and former Governors Upham and Scofield. 
With one wild shout tlie delegates rose to their feet in a 
prolonged demonstration, with yells of "Spooner!" 
"Spooner!" rising above the din. The demonstration 
was repeated again and again as one after another of 
the giants present, Si)0()ner, Quarles, Scofield, Upham, 
Congressmen Babcock, Minor and Barney, State Senator 
John M. Whitehead and others stepped forward and 
gave their endorsement to the party secession and 
pledged their support of the movement. It was a "war 
meeting" rather than a political love feast, a crossing of 
the Rubicon which left no hope of settling the issues be- 
tween the two rival forces save a supreme test of strength. 

The speech of Senator Spooner was interesting from 
the fact that in part it might w^ell have been mistaken in 
the reading for a LaFollette address. "This work," he 
said, "has just begun. Remember you are fighting for 
principle. Tell your constituents what is involved in 
it ; tell them that you are fighting for the dearest popular 
birthright of the people, the opportunity to be heard in 
the conduct of their own business. * * * Gentlemen, 
this convention is not inspired by the personal aml)ition 
of anyone in it (Great applause). It is not inspired by 
a struggle for power (Applause). It is inspired by 
loyalty to representative government (Great applause)." 
Continuing he said : 

"Men sometimes of late years have repudiated the idea 
that we have had for the last forty years in Wisconsin 
representative government (Laughter) ; that we have 



;g6 



LaFoi.lkttk. "s Winning of Wisconsin 



had, they suggest, government by corporations. False 
as it all is, it is so monumental in its impudence as to 
he absolutely bewildering. Tliere is one thing the people 
will not have, and that is, government by committee. 
(Applause.) " 

With the completion of the state ticket at another 
crowded evening session and a final speech by Chairman 
Jeffris, the convention was over and the members went 
forth to prosecute the war to which they had now irrev- 
ocably committed themselves. The struggle was on and 
apparently to a finish. 

Late that night a tall gentleman under great mental 
stress as a result of the excitement of the hour paused 
in a bewildered way in the middle of the street. Hailing 
a passing messenger bo}' he offered him a dime to direct 
him to the Avenue hotel, but a half block or more around 
the corner. It was S. A. Cook, the man who had just 
been named for governor. 




TTouso ill wliiili I.aFollttii' w.is born. 
I'liiniose, Wis. 



CHAPTER XXVI 
Gymnasium Convention Concluded. 

LaFollette and Other State Officers Renominated — Inter- 
esting Incident in Connection with Governor's Accept- 
ance — Aggressive Campaign Urged — Observations on Defec- 
tions FROM LaFollette. 

/\ SPIRIT of grim determination marked the proceed- 
ings of the gymnasium convention the second morning. 
The great hall was crowded. Confirmed in fealty to 
their canse by the extraordinary turn of affairs, the dele- 
gates were in aggressive mood. 

The platform as reported by Chairman Chynoweth was 
adopted with ringing cheers, following which Governor 
LaFollette was placed in nomination in a masterly and 
eulogistic speech by James A. Frear of Hudson. A dozen 
orators, one after the other, rose uptm their chairs and 
vied in tributory seconding speeches. The governor was 
unanimously renominated and brought before the con- 
vention by a committee headed by W. D. Connor of 
Marshfield, the other state officers being in the meantime 
also renominated on one motion. 

The ovation accorded the governor by the great gather- 
ing was one long to be remembered by all present as was 
the powerful and impressive speech of acceptance that 
followed. 

An incident in connection with this speech which 
might have escaped the notice of the casual observer, 
but which forms an interesting subject of psychological 
speculation occurred at the beginning. 

It was a most solemn moment. A powerful element of 
the convention had seceded and with its going went the 
excitement of battle that had keyed up the great gather 
ing. A .^'eeling of sober reaction had set in ; many trem- 



:^6.s l..\i'oi.LKiTK".s Winning ok Wisconsin 

bled at the thought of the possible consequences. It 
might lead to the disruption and defeat of the party in 
the state, to violence, even to assassination and the dis- 
credit of the ctjmmonwealth. The state officers had been 
renominated without opposition, but in spite of the en- 
thusiastic demonstrations of approval at this consumma- 
tion there -was an undertow of depression in the assem- 
blage. Then the governor was brought in by the com- 
mittee and after the thunderous ovation accorded him 
had subsided, he said: 

"Mr. Chairman — Gentlemen of the Convention, Fel- 
low Citizens, Ladies and Gentlemen : I am informed 
officially by your committee that you, the representatives 
of the republican party in Wisconsin (applause), have 
nominated me as your candidate for governor of the 
state." 

Then with a voice exquisitely cadenced and hypnotic 
with triumphant hope he slowly said: "I accept the 
nomination." 

The magic utterance of the words touched a chord in 
every heart. Their tone betrayed a full consciousness 
of the solemnity of the occasion, an appreciation of wdiat 
lay ahead ; but there was a clarion note of hope in them, 
of challenge ; an acceptance of the gage of battle ; not a 
fierce and imbecile welcome of conflict, but a brave, 
serene, eager going forth. The great gathering felt its 
heavy load of doubts and fears, its perplexities and mis- 
givings, suddenly lifted from its shoulders and willingly 
transferred by the leader, Ajax-like, to his own. By 
this very implied assumption of all responsibility for past 
trials and for ultimate success, he became ten times the 
more leader and idol, and a roar of applause, thunderous 
and long-continued, went up, making the great girders of 
the gymnasium vibrate to their farthest limit. These 
four brief words, so often the vapid commonplaces of 
dull men when named for office, he charged with the glow 



Gymnashm Convknti(i.\ C().\< i,ri)i:r) 869 

of genius; they flashed of inspiration; vibrant, electric, 
they opened to the most sodden soul present, vistas of 
hope and shining fields of triumph. They breathed of a 
faith in the rectitude and ultimate triumph of the cause 
that by its very strength must perforce prevail. Impres- 
sive and convincing as were the words that followed, to 
his hearers the battle had been already won with his 
second sentence. 

In concluding this speech Governor LaFoUette said, 
according to a press report: 

We must fight this out in "Wisconsin now and here. (Applause.) 
Blind indeed the man who does not see, dull indeed the brain that 
does not comprehend, that the ballot is given on the faith of plat- 
form pledges, and that redeeming party pledges, keeping faith 
with the citizen, the representative in honor representing the voter, 
is the only means of preserving government by the people. Think 
of the struggle to secure just and equal taxation and nominations 
by direct vote of the people! Remember the broken promises, the 
violation of platform pledges, the boasting and defiance of the 
railroad lobby! Say what you will, representative government is 
on trial for its life in Wisconsin. If there be some citizens in 
this state whom passion and prejudice have so blinded that they 
do not see this clearly defined issue, it is not so outside of Wiscon- 
sin. Wherever you go in this country it is well understood that 
the issue in Wisconsin is the preservation of government by the 
people and for the people. (Applause.) 

Whoever leads in such a movement, whatever band of men 
stand together bearing aloft the banners of the party, making this 
contest-one and all-they must expect to face violent misrepre- 
sentation and personal abuse of every conceivable character. That 
comes as a part of the sacrifice that must be made for he cause. 
But those who have borne the heat and burden of the battle in Wis- 
consin for eight years are veterans now. (Great applause.) They 
do not shirk from the combat. They do not hesitate to face the 
fire. (Applause.) They will not retreat nor lie down. (Appl^"«« 
and cheers.) Let it be known here today, and throughout the 
state and the country, that an adverse decision in any contes --- 
either in caucuses, in conventions, or at the polls -h^n * «m^^^ 
to men who are following a conviction which lies at the fo mdation 
of government-cannot stop them. That we '^f '^^.'"'^^ .^^"^J^f „' 
time and again and simply grow stronger fighting the cause of 



:;7n I.aFoi.i.kttk 's Winning ok Wisconsin 

the right was jiroven in 1896 and in 1898. (Great applause.) And 
from 19(10 down to this hour when the issues became clearly defined 
in the minds of the pcojile there has never been any question as to 
where the overwhelming majority of the republicans of Wisconsin 
stood. They have testified their devotion in every convention down 
to this day. (Great applause; cries of Good! Good!) 

I have already traveled much beyond the limits of a speech ac- 
ceptijig a nomination for the governorship, but I wanted this con- 
vention and the people of the state to know that this fight begins 
today. (Great cheering.) That from this hour until the close 
of the j)olls on election day there shall be no halt and no stop. 
(Great aj)plause, cries of Good! and cheers.) 

Let me here and now declare to the convention, and through you 
to the rejiublican party of Wisconsin, which you represent, (ap- 
plause) that if again chosen to the high office of governor of this 
commonwealth, it shall be my constant endeavor faithfully to 
execute the will of the people and administer the duties of that 
office without fear or favor to any individual, or to any interest. 
(Prolonged applause and cheering, with delegates all on their 
feet.) 

The night following this historic and last republican 
state convention in Wisconsin a characteristic and mem- 
orable scene was enacted in the governor's office in the 
capitol. From early evening until three o'clock the next 
morning the large ante-room of the executive office was 
jammed with an animated, exultant throng, the militant 
young republicanism of Wisconsin, come to felicitate 
togctlicr over the victorious issue of a great and trying 
])attlo and to repay its devotion to its beloved leader. 
Hundreds of delegates from the far corners of the state — 
the outposts of reform — many of whom were making 
their first visit to the capital — remained for the oppor- 
tunity, so long anticipated, of at last meeting and shak- 
ing hands with LaFollette, and with them came hundreds 
of other visitors from far and near. 

It soon became impossible for the governor to keep 
oj)en house. The clamor and pressure for conferences 
and private interviews became irresistible, and under the 
exigencies of the unusual situation then prevailing he 
also felt it imperativo to onnnso] with l.'arlers from vari- 



GYMNASllJt CONVKNTIO.N CoNlI.l'DKI) 371 

ous vital points. So he was forced into his private inner 
office and a corps of favored lieutenants delegated to 
"manage the crowd." Of these Speaker I. L. Lenroot 
became a sort of chief ambassador, being himself a popu- 
lar hero of the hour as the fearless and masterful chair- 
man of the great convention just closed. Among others 
having entree to the inner sanctum were N. P. Haugen. 
Lieutenant Governor James 0. Davidson, State Chair- 
man W. D. Connor, John L. Eriekson of Superior, and 
J, Crawford Harper of Madison. Their instructions 
were to give everj-body the glad hand, turn off office- 
seekers as diplomatically as possible and get everyone 
out of town with the maximum of good humor and en- 
thusiasm for the cause possible. And this serves to recall 
one of the many incidents of the memorable night. Suc- 
cess had brought some of its inevitable results. LaFol- 
lette by this picturesque and dramatic victory, the climax 
so far of all his desperate fighting, was now more than 
ever the great state figure, and a dictator with power to 
make or deny political futures. Before men in such 
positions a large proportion of humanity is ever ready 
to prostrate itself, many through sheer devotion, others 



ADMIT THE BEARER * 

t to the CYMI^aSIUM duting 

i the sessions of the 



Republican State Convention 

COMMENCING MAY IS, 1904 

I (SIDE ENTRANCE) A Seat on the Sta^e No.__ | 

I A.H ILWSER. Ser^l.-at-Arms GEO. E. BHYANT, Chairman, R. S. C. C. j 

Ticket Used at Convention of 1!>01 



•,7j LaFoli.kttk's WisNiNt; of Wisconsin 

inr tlic satisfaction alone of l)ein<.' allied wilii a winning' 
cause, still others with a thrifty eye to future possibil- 
ities. LaFollette being thus in a position of bestowinj,' 
place and power, many felt the wisdom of early getting 
ins ear. Some had come as delegates. A conference 
while in the city might .save another, perhaps more than 
one, tri]) back to the capital. 

Of this last named class was one delegate of foreign 
extraction (not Norwegian nor German), Avho had his 
mind set on an interview Avith the governor. When it 
became doubtful about his securing this coveted inter- 
view he began "talking out in meeting," finally revert- 
ing to his readier mother tongue the; better to do justice 
1o his feelings. He had fought LaFollette 's battles for 
ten years, had sacrificed time and money, borne the taunts 
of derisive neighbors, helped send LaFollette men up to 
the legislature, etc., and the time had now come when 
some recognition was due him. Li short, he wanted a 
job. He must see the governor. Nor would he be 
quieted. Finally one of the governor's lieutenants suc- 
ceeded in segregating him and reasoned Avith him in this 
manner: "Why do you Avant a job at ^Madison, any- 
Avay? Have you tliought out Avhat it means? If you 
don't accept office you Avill continue to be the big man 
at home; you Avill have influence, poAver and respect in 
your tOAvn. You Avill be looked up to as a man fighting 
for the high motives of principle. If you accept an ap- 
])ointment you Avill be set doAvn as a self-seeker and your 
influeneo and respect be lost. Besides there is no money 
profit ill it. You Avill lose your business at home as well 
as your standing, and on top of it all you Avill have no 
inlluence and get no recognition here." This homily 
made the visitor a bit more thoughtful. He admitted 
the advice sounded Avell, yet ho was not certain but that 
he still desired a political job. Fiiuilly tAvo administra- 
tion iiit'ii escorted him to his tj'ain. giving him a treat 



7 1 I.aFollette's Winning ok Wisconsin 

on tlie way, and he parted with tlirm in apparent good 
humor. However, in a later campaign he was to be 
found fighting the cause he had so nobly supported for a 
decade. 

It was one of the penalties LaFollette had to suffer, 
the loss of many a follower who demanded more material 
reward than the satisfaction derived from patriotic serv- 
ice alone. This lesson that the great mass of men must 
expect small recognition for public service is one that 
man}' must learn in bitterness of heart. The one sure 
reward must be that of satisfaction of conscience. It 
is the suflicient reward of the patriot and should be of 
all who are not proof against disappointment. A Mas- 
sena and a Ney may perform heart-breaking prodigies 
and sacrifices, and suffer the pangs ol humiliation, re- 
crimination and misunderstanding through a life-time, 
only to see the chief glory of all their toil and suffering 
go to a favored greater one, but civilization would have 
made little progress had not the martyrs of history sacri- 
ficed themselves in spite of this eternal recurrence of fact. 

As Burns observes, "a few seem favorites of fate;" 
the very stars contending for them. Thus, in this con- 
nection and at this particular time, a learned astrologer 
had worked out a formula covering nearly a full news- 
paper page to show that it was writ in the stars that 
LaFollette was to triumph in tlie present crisis and had 
a great careeer of success before him. 

As it would be an interesting study to pass in review 
the scores of public men of Wisconsin who have been 
made largely by the circumstance of hitching their 
chariots to the LaFollette star, so also would the 
defections from the LaFollette standard prove a most 
interesting study. In his long career of leadership it 
has been LaFollette 's regrettable fortune to lose many 
a once ardent supporter of prominence. The causes 
of these defections have been as varied as the apostates 



GVM.NASHM C0>VI.NTI()\ C().\ri.l'I)i:it 



375 




Cartoon of 1904 Convention Scene 



.■J7G LaFollettk 's Winning of Wisconsin 

in question themselves. Steadfastness in both pros- 
perity and adversity in the faith through which they 
acquired place has been found irksome to many. Others 
never truly of the faith, who enlisted to attain selfish 
ends, have inevitably gravitated back to more con- 
genial relations. Many also, once in power or place, 
believing themselves strong enough to stand alone, have 
foresworn further allegiance to their old leader or 
made war upon him. Others with the restless dispo- 
sition of the man who insisted on shearing a wolf have 
soon found occasion for quarrel or estrangement. Still 
others could not await the slow coming of rewards. 
The shoals of recent Wisconsin politics are strewn with 
the wrecks of such deserters. Murat's loss of his king- 
dom of Naples by playing fast and loose with his old 
benefactor before Elba and Waterloo has, in a way, 
thus had many parallels in Wisconsin annals. The 
sentiment of many who have thus weakened in the 
faith was no doubt well expressed by one such when he 
said : 

I tell you I am tired of this business of being a patriot. There 
is nothing in it. I give you warning here and now that hereafter 
I am going to work for yours truly. 

These various defections have led to many erroneous 
impressions in the larger public mind not particularly 
interested nor concerned in the springs and causes in- 
spiring them. As with other leaders who have under- 
gone similar experiences, LaFollette has been repeatedly 
subjected to the charge of ingratitude, of jealousy, of 
a heartless disposition to sacrifice and destroy even his 
friends for his own advancement. Without presuming 
to enter upon any discussion of these points, it may be 
observed that even LaFollette 's severest critics admit 
that h^ has been unwaveringly true to his ideals and 
causes, undeterred by defeats, temptations or unpromis- 
ing prospects. He has stood by his principles and his 



GYMy.v.snM Coxvkntiox CoNri,vi)Ki( 377 

guns. Whatever may be said of others, he has not 
changed; th-e alternative coneliision then must be that 
those supporters who have since made cause against 
him must have themselves changed. 

As a conspicuous example among such may be men- 
tioned former Governor W. D. Hoard. In view of the 
severe strictures — to use no harsher term — applied by 
Mr, Hoard to his one-time friend and colleague, the 
friends of the earlier governor can scarcely complain or 
consider it a breach of confidence if LaFollette himself 
be quoted in this connection. Interviewed some years 
ago on tlie subject of his altered relations with Hoard he 
said : 

When I was governor I always made a great cleaT of Hoard and 
kept him prominently before the people. I did this partly be- 
cause I admired the man and partly out of sympathy, because I 
felt his political career had been turned into a tragedy through the 
treachery of Henry Payne and others. I often consulted him and 
always deferred to him in appointments in his district. We al- 
ways kept a room for Hoard at the executive residence and he was 
always our guest while in the city. One night after I had taken 
him up to his room and brought up the customary refreshment 
which he took on retiring he said : ' ' Robert, I 'd like to talk 
■with you a minute. ' ' We sat down and he continued : 

' ' I don 't want Cully Adams disturbed down there in congress. 
I understand John Nelson is trying to get his place and I want 
you to call him off." 

"Well," I said, "I don't think I can, governor. In the first 
place it is against my inclinations to try to boss in these things 
and I don't think I could, anyway. John has a perfect right to 
be ambitious. Besides he is a good friend of mine; he is a man 
of high character, high courage, high attainments. He has been 
unwavering in his loyalty to our cause, while Adams is training 
witli Babcock down there at Washington. The only thing I can 
do is to keep hands off and let things take their own course." 

Hoard didn't like it, but was pleasant the next morning at 
breakfast. W'e had some readings and he told stories to tlio 
family for an hour. But from that day there was a gradual cool- 
ing on his ]iart. I entertained no resentment, however, for when 
Secretary Knox sent for me in 1909 and told me President Taft 
wanted to give the place of secretary of agriculture to Wisconsin 



;;7>i 



l.Al'oLi.Kn'K's Winning of Wisconsin 



and asked me to name a man I at once recommended Hoard. 1 
told him of liis high qualifications, his distinguished public service, 
his sterling character, his nation-wide recognition as an authority 
in matters of agriculture, liis reputation as a writer and the confi- 
dence the people would repose in his selection. Very well, Hoard 
was invited to join the cabinet, and I also wrote him urging him to 
accept. But Hoard declined on the ground of age and failing 
health. I again wrote him that the president said there was no 
hurry about taking the jdace; that if after some months his health 
improved he might take the place and try it for a year. I told 
him how his political prospects had been wrecked by treachery 
and that a calnnet term would be a nice crowning of his career. 
But he again declined. Then Hoard and I joined in recommend- 
ing Dr. H. L. Russell, dean of the college of agriculture in the 
University of Wisconsin, to Mr. Knox, but Dr. Russell wouldn 't 
entertain the proposition at all. However Hoard may feel toward 
me, I feel kindly toward him, and think I have been more than 
fair and generous toward him. 




HENRY A. RUBER 
Early Progressive 



CHAPTER XXVI 1 
Before the National Convention, 

Rival Factioxs Appeal to National Committee — LaFollette 
Delegation Visits Eoosevelt — Receive xo Encouragement — 
Committee Decides for Stalwarts — Prematuke Announcement 
BY Committee ox Credentials — LaFollette Delegation Leaves 
Chicago — Stalwarts Seated — Incidents of Su:mmer — Removal 
of State Treasurer Kempf — Democrats Again Adopt Reac- 
tionary Platform — Peck for Governor. 

1 HE state conventions over, the scene of battle was 
shifted to Chicago, and a fresh rivalry begun for recog- 
nition by the republican national convention and the 
consequent prestige such recognition would bring. In 
order not to imperil the national party ticket the stal- 
wart convention, at the suggestion of General Winkler, 
had nominated for presidential electors the same ticket 
the administration convention had, but for delegates at 
large to the national convention had elected Senators 
Spooner and Quarles, Congressman Babcock and Judge 
Baensch. The administration delegates were Isaac 
Stephenson of Marinette, Governor LaFollette, AV. D. 
Connor of Marshfiekl. whom the administration conven- 
tion had just elected chairman of the state central com- 
mittee ; and Senator .1. 11. Stout of Menomonie. If the 
national convention would seat their delegates— thus in 
effect recognizing the opera house meeting as the regular 
state convention— the stalwart leaders held that the 
secretary of state would be morally, if indeed not legally, 
bound to place the opera house ticket in the regular 
republican column on the official ballot for the November 
election. With Henry C. Payne, then postmaster gen- 
eral a member of the national committee and its acting 
chaiVman. the slahvarls had every reason to lu.p.- th-y 



LaFollktte's Winning ok Wisconsin 

would receive such recognition. The administration, on 
the other hand, could scarcely hope for much considera- 
tion, but determined to press its claims. 

One of the first moves was to dispatch a delegation to 
Washington to lay the entire political situation in the 
state before President Roosevelt in the hope that the dis 
tinguished promulgator of "the square deal" would 
exert his great influence at the convention in favor of 
the administration delegates. Senator Spooner had al- 
ready called and urged his recognition of the stalwart 
claims. Largely at Connor's expense, it is said, Chair- 
man Connor, IT. P. Myrick, editor of the Milwanlxee Free 
Press; Speaker I. L. Lenroot, Walter L. Houser of Mon- 
dovi and C. C. Gittings of Racine accordingly went to 
Washington and had an audience with the president. 
But the latter refused to do anything for his visitors. 
After listening rather impatiently to their presentation 
of the situation, he declared that he could take no hand 
in any purely factional controversy; that, in effect, it 
would be undignified in him to do so and might imperil 
party success in the state. "Go and sec Hrooker of Con- 
necticut and tell him," he said finally. Brooker was a 
inem])er of the national committee, of reactionary^ sym- 
pathies, so the delegates saw little hope iu that direction. 
Then a final appeal w-as made to him to discourage the 
activity of the federal office-holders who were busily can- 
vassing the state, giving open aid and comfort to the 
stalwart friction and lending it their powerful prestige 
as government representatives. It was pointed out to 
him that for years this condition of affairs had existed 
and that it had been condemned in the two last repub- 
lican state platforms, as he had seen. But even on this 
point no satisfaction could be obtained. "1 don't see 
what we can do," said Connor bitterly on returning to 
the street, "unless it be to go on a spree, as they say. 
;i!ul try to forget it." 



Bra'oiu: tiik iNamonai. Co.wemio.n 381 

It was generally understood that the national admin- 
istration was hostile to the Wisconsin movement. 
Throughout his long ten years' struggle for better things 
in his state LaFoUette received scarcely a word of en- 
couragement or suggestion from Washington ; on the 
other hand, Spooner, Quarles, Payne and Babcock had 
the close ear of the administration and directed all ap- 
pointments toward the building up of a powerful state 
machine of active anti-LaFoUette partisans. In view 
of the great national prestige of this quartet politicians 
generally looked for a decisive turning down of LaFol- 
lette by the national convention and Walter Wellman 
writing authoritatively from Washington further added 
that "the president regards the decision to be made by 
the Chicago convention much like the verdict of a jury, 
which no outsider must tamper Avith." 

A little further notice of the relations between Roose- 
velt and LaFollette at this time may be of interest. 

In his speech at Oshkosh, and again at Milwaukee, in 
1912, while making his campaign as the progressive pres- 
idential candidate, Colonel Roosevelt said: 

It lias been asserted that I did not take sides with the LaFol- 
lette people in their campaign in 1904. This is an error. On 
October 16 of that year T made my position clear in a letter to 
Mr. Cortelyou, chairman of the national committee, which ran in 
part as follows: 

I think Babcock and his jieople should be told that especially 
in view of the decisicni of the supreme court there must not be any 
kind of favoritism shown by us toward the "stalwarts." Under 
the decision of the supreme court any weakening of the LaFollette 
ticket is a weakening of the national ticket, etc. 

Also: Again and again I have borne testimony in speech and 
in writings in the Outlook to what Senator LaFollette has accom- 
plished in the way of progressive leadershij). 

These statements are interesting, especially as thoy 
show bv his own words that Roosevelt did not come to 
the aid of LaFollette in 1904 until LaFollette had won 
his own fight and when it seemed political expediency to 



:\82 LaFollette "s Winninc; or Wisconsin 

do so. In fact everyone familiar ^vith the political situa- 
tion at the time — no matter what his factional bias — 
felt that Roosevelt was hostile to LaFoUette. That was 
regrarded as elementarj'. 

The Cortelyou letter — wliich LaFollette supporters as- 
serted in 1912 had not been heard of until that year — 
was written October 16, 1904, about three weeks before 
the close of the campaign. On October 5 of that year the 
supreme court of Wisconsin had handed down its de- 
cision refusing to interfere with the placing of the La- 
Follette ticket in the regular republican column on the 
official ballot. Postmaster General Payne too, by the 
way, had died the day before in Washington. During 
the w^hole of that heart-breaking factional campaign 
Hoosevelt spoke no word nor made any move to aid La- 
Follette until LaFollette had won his fight before the 
supreme court. The stalwarts were then demoralized ; 
even their candidate for governor had resigned from the 
ticket. Apparently as if fearful of the danger to his 
own ticket in Wisconsin, the president then wrote the 
Cortelyou letter. 

Roosevelt's previous attitude toward the Wisconsin 
movement had been one of indifference or hostility. On 
April 3, 1903, while LaFollette was serving his second 
term as governor. President Roosevelt visited Madison. 
The legislature was then in session, and had been for 
three months. Tiic legislative session of that year was 
unparalleled in state liistory for desperate struggles and 
fierce rivalries. At the time of Roosevelt's visit the 
three big TiaFoUette measures, for primary election, ad 
valorem ta.xation of railroads and a railroad rate com- 
mission, were all hanging in the balance. Fierce battles 
had raged over them for weeks and the tir.st two .meas- 
ures had already been repeatedly defeated by the stal- 
wart opposition. 

Tlif stjihvart corporal ion lohl»y of that jicriod marked 



Bkfore thk Najioxal Convk.mio.n 383 

the culmination of that form of activity in the history of 
the state. In numbers, boldness and effrontery it had 
never been equalled. It outnumbered the legislature 
itself. Among the most active lobbyists in the early La- 
Follette administrations were federal office-seekers, such 
as James G. Monahan and Henry Fink, revenue col- 
lectors, and William G. Wheeler, United States district 
attorney. For weeks and months they were active in the 
legislature in fighting the administration measures, even 
going to the extent at times of dragging members upon 
the floor and making them vote against the LaFollette 
bills. So offensive did they become that several times 
they had to be driven from the floor by resolutions or by 
direction of the speaker. Not only were these men, in 
neglect of their duties and in violation of the spirit, if 
not the direct letter of the law, active, but in this session 
Congressman Babcock was sent on from Washington by 
Senator Spooner — as admitted and explained at length 
in E. L. Philipp's stalwart history of the period — to 
direct the fight in the legislature against the LaFollette 
measures. 

President Roosevelt was cognizant of this entire situa- 
tion when he visited Madison. Yet he did not raise his 
voice in encouragement or support of the LaFollette 
ideas which he later professed to have endorsed. Al- 
though introduced in complimentary terms by Governor 
LaFollette he dropped no suggestion of encouragement 
in the fight LaFollette was making for better conditions. 
In a sedate official this had not been surprising, but in 
one like Roosevelt given to outspoken opinions on all 
subjects his silence at the time could scarcely be attrib- 
uted to any ethical squeamishness. 

His silence at the time recalled by contrast the action 
of Colonel Bryan later in coming voluntarily before the 
Wisconsin legislature at a critical time and making a 



.184 LaFom.ette 's Winmni; or Wisconsin 

poworl'iil [)lea in siii)port of JjaFcjUcltc thus aiding in 
putting' till! rate eommission law on the statute books. 

Mention has been made of some of the Wisconsin fed- 
eral office-holders of the period. It was not alone in the 
naming? of these men. for public favor, or of bigger ones 
like llenry C. Payne. Postmaster E. W. Keyes and Judge 
Quarles, all ])itterly hostile to LaFollette, that the Roos^-- 
velt bias against LaFollette was shown, but in appoint- 
ments generally throughout the state. Among the most 
active and aggressive fighters of LaFollette and his ideas 
in ^Madison in 1904 were three young men, IL IL ^lorgan, 
A. A. Meggett and Raymond R. Frazier. For their poli- 
tical activities against LaFollette all of these men later 
received fat federal appointments, Morgan being made 
assistant United States district attorney, Meggett getting 
a place in the revenue collector's office and Frazier being 
appointed consul to Copenhagen, Denmark. What was 
true of Madison was true of other cities in the state. 
"Standing with the LaFollette people in 1904" appears 
to have been limited to the time between October 1() and 
November 8 of that year. Then they were again aban- 
doned, as shown by subsequent appointments, for the 
faction that cast but 12,000 votes in the election. 

When Roosevelt was in Africa and republican insur- 
gency began developing in congress, following the pas- 
sage of the Payne tariff bill, it was the open and confident 
assertion of the stalwart press that when Roosevelt re- 
turned he would "quickly sciuelcli this insurgency." 
Even the progressive papers generally regarded Roose- 
velt as liostile to it. "Roosevelt has always been a 
stickler for ])arty," they said. It*was a gambler's chance 
that he would take up with the new movement. 

Roosevelt's firsl public endorsement of LaFollette 
came in September, 1910. The colonel happened to be 
in Milwaukee the day after the phenomenal LaFollette 
landslide in tlu' primary election of that year, in which 



Befokk thk Natioxai. Convention 385 

LaFollette carried every county and practically every 
legislative district in the state. In an interview by the 
press he then declared guardedly that, in view of the en- 
dorsement LaFollette had received, it was the duty of the 
legislature to reelect him. LaFollette 's fight had again 
been won. 

Afterward in an introduction to Dr. Charles Mc- 
Carthj-^'s book on "The Wisconsin Idea," and later in an 
Outlook article he incidentally mentioned LaFollette. 
The AVisconsin idea was then proving popular and the 
colonel's candidac}^ was imminent. 

However, in view of their triumph in the election of 
1904 the LaFollette people cherished no grudge against 
President Roosevelt. LaFollette later regretted that the 
president 's influence had been sought before the national 
convention. As a matter of fact, it can be safely as- 
serted that secretly LaFollette did not desire the admin- 
istration's aid in liis state fight. As he grew in strength 
he perhaps inwardly rejoiced at the opposition. He 
preferred to win his fight alone since by so doing he 
would reap the w^hole glory. It is the way of strong and 
resolute characters. 

With other and similar cases that of the Wisconsin 
contest was first presented to the national committee for 
adjustment. May 30 the stalwart delegates at large. 
through their attorneys, sent a protest to the national 
committee against the seating of the gymnasium dele- 
gates, accompanying it with a statement on the Wiscon- 
sin situation. A like notice was sent Chairman Payne^ 
by the administration delegates. 

The action of the national committee and the national 
convention in subsequently refusing any recognition to 
the administration delegates in the face of the fact that 
the Wisconsin state central committee by unanimous 
vote (which included six stalwarts) had seated a clear 
majority of administration delegates in the state conven- 



386 LaFollette's Winning of Wisconsin 

tion illustrated well the indiffereiiee toward the publii- 
by political bosses wheu "drunk with power." Their 
lack of political acumen in this instance was. strikingly 
shown in the subsequent repudiation by the voters of 
AVisconsin of the national convention's endorsement of 
the stalwart cause. 

On the eve of the meeting of the national committee 
the largest delegation of half-breed leaders ever gathered 
together outside of a state convention accompanied Gov- 
ernor LaFoUette and the other national delegates t(» 
Chicago. It was a war party, elate, defiant, flushed with 
victory and impatient under the lead of the aggressive 
governor. Practically every prominent half-breed leader 
in the state was in the party w^hose magnitude and spirit 
were expected to impress the national body, but whose 
latter sensibilities were to prove tantalizingly stoical. 
It is said enough undelivered speeches and arguments to 
form a volume were afterward brought back cm the 
"swearing train" by ambitious members of this dele- 
gation who had hoped to find opportunity to appear be- 
fore the committee. 

The national committee met at Chicago June 15, and 
after hearing spirited arguments by Mr. Olin and Mr. 
Jeffris for the stalwarts and by H. W. Chynoweth of 
Madison and G. E. Roe of New York for the half-breeds 
it voted unanimoush- to recommend the seating of the 
stalwart delegates. The decision greatly rejoiced the 
stalwart leaders. Said J. G. Monahan, "I never doubted 
the result. 1 knew the committee was composed of hon- 
est men and true republicans." Defiance breathed from 
all the administration interviews. "They are strong in 
the corridors," said Henry F. Coehems, "but we are 
strong in the woods." Said Walter Ilouser, speaking 
for the governor: "It is an outrageous steal. But we 
never give up a fight. AVe will take our ease to the com- 
mittee on i'redentiais and from there to the convention. 



Befouk thk Nationai, Coxventio.n 387 

From there we will carry it back to Wisconsin. Governor 
LaFollette's fight will be carried on in the state just as 
if nothing had happaned in Chicago." 

In view of the results that followed, the comraont of 
Amos P. Wilder, editor of the State Journal, at the time 
is interesting. Mr. Wilder said : 

LaFollette is a fighter and is not cast down. If he had the 
confidence of the people of the state he would now be in a notablo 
position to transfer the war against the state republican organiza- 
tion to the national republican organization. This is a startling 
thing to say, but the fact is, among the common people of the land 
there is a good deal of quiet resistance to the corporation tendencies 
in the republican party. LaFollette could attempt to bring na- 
tional republicanism into line against the railroads, Tom Piatt 
and the corporations, as he has influenced a great part of the re- 
publican party in Wisconsin. He has the personality, oratory, and 
the organizing power to move into the national arena; but, alas, 
he has cut his bridges. * * • 

LaFollette will fight for some turn, in the courts or elsewhere, 
but he has met his Waterloo in the national committee. Like 
Napoleon coming back from Elba, the governor may create a ripple 
by his valor; but the great mass of his followers will elect to be 
republicans, rather than LaFollette men. The ambitious self- 
seekers in his ranks will not lose their future by being known to 
the national leaders as bolters, and the rank and file of his fol- 
lowing prefer to be "straight" according to the party definition. 
The able leaders of the party, the newspapers that Governor La- 
Follette might now have had had he been true to himself and 
sought his ends by straightforward means, instead of by indirec- 
tions, are now on 'the other side. If he had them today he could 
issue a manifesto of defiance to the national leaders in Chicago 
that would shake the country. 

From the national committee the rival factionalists 
moved upon the committee on credentials for the national 
convention. The defiant refusal of the LaFollette lead- 
ers to accept the verdict of the national committee and 
yield the fight centered much curious interest in the gov- 
ernor, particularly the report that he might seek to ap- 
pear before the convention in person and present his 
.side of the case. After this committee had likewise 



388 I-.\Foi.i.KTTh'i Winning ot' Wisconsin 

heard the arguments a subcommittee of three was ap- 
pointed to sift the evidence and report to the full com- 
mittee on credentials. 

However, before the sub-committee had acted confirma- 
tion of a partly definite nature was obtained of the report 
that the gymnasium delegates were already scheduled 
for slaughter. 

It happened in this way: A former Madison news- 
paperman, Rob R. Hiestand, then employed in Chicago, 
called at noon at the headquarters of the committee on 
credentials. He was met at the door by Senator R. < '. 
Kerens of St. Louis, who in reply to the reporter's in- 
quiry said carelessly : 

"Oh, we're going to throw them out." 

The scribe immediately wired the reply to the Wiscon- 
sin State Journal, then the "official" organ of the stal- 
warts. In screaming headlines this paper promptly 
"played up" the forecast as an accomplished fact. The 
story appeared in an early edition of the paper wliicli 
went to press at 2 o'clock. "When later on it developed 
that the sub-committee did not make its report until ■') 
o'clock that afternoon an embarrassing situation was 
created. The LaFollette partisans sought to make cap- 
ital of the premature announcement by charging collu- 
sion and that it was shown to have been "a cut and dried 
affair from the start." Afterward every copy of this 
first edition which the stalwarts could find was eagerly 
gathered up and consigned to the flames that lati-r it 
might not appear in evidence. 

However, the hint dropped to Hiestand at noon that 
day had done its work. It was promptly conveyed to 
LaFollette, who witli characteristic forehandedness de- 
termined on his ])lan at once. 

AVhen the news reached the governor he was sitting on 
his bed in a small room in the Victoria hotel surrounded 
bv other meniliers of the delecration and his legal ad- 



THIS EDITION OF. THE WISCONSIN STATE JOUR 

WMMSIN 



TELEPHONES 



VOL. 101 XO 



EXTRA! 

NATIONAL COMMiTT[t- 
D[CID[S FOR STALWARTS 



"La Follette Ticket Declared tc Be Irregular 
at Chicago Meeting-. 



AND DECISION IS DECLARED BIIOING 



John M. Olin Presents Case for Stalwarts and H. \V 

Ch}no\veth and G. E. Roe Appear for La Follette 

Faction-^Ffght Lon^ and Bitter. 



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Facsmile of State Journal Convnntlon Extra 



.too I,\1"oi.lkttk'.s Winnino ok Wisconsin 

viser.s. The trovcrnor's brows darkened. For a time h<* 
sat gloomily in silence wrestling with his feelings. No 
one dared to speak. Even Chynoweth, he of firm jaw 
and unruffled spirit, had no word to offer. 

At last LaFollette arose and nervously paced the floor. 
Then stepping to the door he pressed a button. What 
dreadful thing was going to happen now? What new 
sensation was to be sprung? AVhat daring coup to be 
executed to startle the state and the nation? Was the 
foiled tiger in the man to get the upper hand of his usual 
clear judgment and lead him into some rash act that 
might forever undo him? 

"Waiter!" he said sternly when that aproned indi- 
vidual appeared in the doorway, "bring me a couple of 
cheese sandwiches and a bottle of milk!" 

Ilis followers collapsed with relief at this melodramatic 
descent. LaFollette ate his sandwiches savagely, fero- 
ciously, as if venting a grudge against them. 

Then he said: "There is no use, gentlemen, in our 
staying here and permitting ourselves to be further 
humiliated. We cannot get justice here; the cards are 
stacked against us. Let us turn our backs on the con- 
vention and appeal to the people of Wisconsin ; they 
know who is in the right and we can trust them to vindi- 
cate us." 

However, Senator Stout, one of the delegates at large, 
hesitated about going to this length and was inclined to 
hold out. News of this fact reached the governor's 
friends at Madison and Col. Hugh Lewis iir()m]ttly sent 
the following telegram to Stout : 

"Ignore packed committee; the people t>f Wisconsin 
know you are right and will sustain you." On this as- 
surance from Colonel LcAvis, Senator Stout finally agreed 
to the LaFollette plan. 

Accordingly at 4 o'cloek lliat afternoon Mr. Koe ap- 
peared before llie ('(nnniittee and tlirowing a statement 



BeFOKF, THIC NatIO.NAI. CoNVENTfON 391 

upon the table in front of it made the startling assertion 
that he considered the ease prejudged. "Several mem- 
bers of the committee on credentials before which we are 
now asked to present our case are members of the na- 
tional committee, which passed on this case before, ' ' said 
Mr. Roe. "We do not, therefore, consider this an un- 
prejudiced committee. AVe understand, moreover, that 
several members of this committee have been approached, 
and we, therefore, decline to present our case, preferring 
to submit it to the people of Wisconsin at the election 
next November." 

The members of the committee were astounded at this 
audacit3^ Said Senator McComas: "I have grave 
doubts as to whether we should permit that paper to be 
filed at all." The governor and other LaFollette dele- 
gates at large immediateh' returned to Madison. 

The next day 'the committee on credentials reported 
against seating the LaFollette delegation and the conven- 
tion adopted the report with cheers of exultation. 

LaFollette 's promi)t hurling of this bombshell of de- 
fiance proved a masterly political move. It not only 
spared him the humiliation over which his opponents 
were gloating in anticipation, but further startled the 
conscience of the people to his immense advantage. 

"What have you to say about the action of the con- 
vention today in seating the stalwart delegation?" a 
timid reporter asked the governor at the executive office 
on his return. 

"Tell them I don't care a particle what they do at 
Chicago; we shall appeal to the people of the state for 
justice." 

"Do you want to make that statement publicly?" 
asked the reporter, half-fearing to put such a seemingly 
rash statement on paper. 

"Yes, sir; T do," said the governor. 



:u»2 LaFollettk 's Winning of Wisconsin 

But political matters were iiol the onl}' ones makiii;: 
claim upon the governor's time. During the first week 
in eTune he was called upon to don the scholastic cap and 
gown and participate; in the jubilee exercises of the Uni- 
versity of Wisconsin witli distinguished representatives 
of great universities at home and abroad. 

In the closing days of the month also he delivered the 
address dedicating th(^ AVisconsjii IjiiildJTiir at tlie \vorld's 
fair at St. Louis. 

In spite of the desperate situation at home LaFoUette 
determined also to fill his contracts previously made for 
a Chautauqua lecture tour of the west in the month of 
August. In order to press his propaganda of reform it 
has been necessary for LaFoUette, whose principal asset 
has been his own genius and magnetic personality, to 
take the platform and come in contact with the people. 
Likewise the platform has been a convenient recourse for 
needed revenue. Up to the time he was elected United 
States senator it had ])een LaFoUette 's practice "to put 
back into the game" all the salary he had drawn in the 
public service. This in part answers the question as to 
where he has obtained the money to finance his cam- 
paigns. The savings of his early years in his law prac- 
tice having been lost in unprofitable Dakota investments, 
to make a living for his family he resorted to the Chau- 
tauqua platform where he has long been in great demand. 
During the dull sununer months when tlicre would l)e 
little business at the capitol requiring his attention he 
took the opportunity to give a series of such lectures 
iibout the country. 

"Don't do it. l>ob," said Col. Hugh licwis on meeting 
the governor one day during this cinni)aign and being 
informed of the hitter's proposed trip ; "something might 
liMppcn while you are away." "But 1 must." said the 
goNcruor; " 1 've got to h(\\v some money to go into this 
cain|)aiL''u ; there's going to be soinetlnnLT doing." "I've 



Befokk thk National CoxWention 393 

got some money put away." urged Lewis; "not any great 
amount, but draw it if you need it. If you can pay it 
back sometime, all right; if not, no matter." 

But the governor did not accept the generous offer and 
went on with his lectures. While the governor was 
absent on this tour Senator Hpooner came on from the 
east and spent four days in Madison going over the 
briefs of the stalw-art attorneys, then returning to his 
New Hampshire summer home. 

Naturally the governor's enemies sought to make cap- 
ital of his absence on these trips, charging that he was 
neglecting the affairs of the state in thus going away. 

While on these lecture tours the governor usually left 
the office in charge of his private secretary, Col. John J. 
Hannan, and his executive clerk, Henry A. Huber. 
Huber bore a striking resemblance to the governor, hav- 
ing a similar physique and like features, crowned with 
a replica of LaFollette's famous pompadour. He may 
be said to have been his alter ego in a physical sense. 
He is the only man in the state who can claim the dis- 
tinction of having been frequently mistaken for LaFol- 
lette. Not infrequently after paying their respects or 
transacting their business rural visitors would leave the 
office with the pleasing delusion that they had been deal- 
ing with the famous executive himself, when they had 
simply chatted with Huber. 

With becoming modesty and kindness Huber diosc 
not to disillusionize such trustful simplicity and thereby 
emphasize his resemblance. In fact, it was said and 
seriously believed by some that Huber was chosen for 
the position by the governor because of the advantage 
this similarity in appearance would give. It would in 
eft'ect be doubling the governor to an extent and thus be 
a saving of the executive's time whenever callers chose 
to make a mistake and there was nothing vital about 
their missions. 



394 LaFollettb's Winning of Wisconsin 

ll chanced that once a Milwaukee caller found the 
entire office force, from governor down to stenographer, 
out of the city on political business. AVilliani Miller, the 
colored messenger, was the only person about. Even 
Jennie Nelson and Nellie Dunn, his capable clerks, were 
missing. The resourceful Milwaukeean was not to be 
dismayed, however, and called upon ^lillcr to do his 
business for him, which the latter — illustrating the 
American capacity for meeting emergencies — obligingly 
did. Thereupon the visitor in imitation of the confer- 
ring of knighthood said : 

"I hereby dub and create thee Governor Miller." 
Miller was thus styled "the first colored executive a 
northern state ever had," and so far as he went every- 
body admitted that "Governor Miller" made a pretty 

good official. 

* • * 

The month of August was also to witness the so-called 
Dolitical execution of John J. Kompf, one of the many 
exciting episodes of that exciting time. Kempf was state 
treasurer and in some manner had committed or per- 
mitted an irregularity in his relations with state depos- 
itories. The situation finally came to the notice of the 
iiews|)apers, and created a great scandal at once, and as 
Kempf s explanations only added to the confusion many 
began to fear that a thorough probing might reveal a 
Very serious condition of affairs. Accordingly to secure 
the state Governor LaFollette immediately served notice 
upon the state treasurer that he would have to raise his 
bond from $250,000 to the limit of $600,000, an enormous 
increase, or the office would be declared vacant by a cer- 
tain date. But Kempf was unable to raise his bond. 
Although he had befriended them, the stalwarts did not 
now reciprocate by coming to his rescue with the money 
so badly needed. At first they sympathized with him 
and added this action of LaFollette 's to the long and 



Bkfoue thi: National Convention 395 

growing category of the executive's sins. It was un- 
warranted cruelty, this harrying of a fellow official, they 
saidj and done to discipline him for dawdling when tlie 
political whip had cracked. 

Kempf not being of heroic clay had not shown the 
enthusiasm in the cause of the administration that other- 
Avise possibly might have spared him this humiliation. 
In fact, he appeared to have been flirting with the other 
side in the matter of appointments and business. 

Stalwart conferences were held even over this floating 
political straw. "Would it pay to take Kempf up, set 
a martyr's aureole on his brow and then call upon a 
justice-loving people to avenge a great wrong? Kempf 's 
own vacillation finally determined the answer. As he 
could neither increase his bond nor explain the discrep- 
ancy in the treasury their attitude changed. Perhaps 
Kempf would prove an undesirable. If so he must not 
be taken up, for already too many such were being car- 
ried for the good of the cause. So it ended that Kempf 
was left out in the cold by both factions and the stal- 
warts took another tack at political capital by denounc- 
ing Kempf as part of the LaFollette machine and char- 
acteristic of its workings. Poor Kempf! Day by day 
slipped by. The scandal still smellcd unexplained to 
heaven and though he nuule many frantic trips to Mil- 
waukee he could get no one to endorse his bond. Finally 
he appealed to a great surety company in the east. It 
sent two expert accountants to Madison to go over the 
treasurer's books and report on the advisability of fur- 
nishing the bond. Day after day dragged by and the 
experts were unable to give their decision. When the 
morning of August 30, the day set by Governor LaFol- 
lette as the limit of time for producing the bond, arrived 
there was a tense feeling about the capitol. Would 
Kempf be able to furnish his bond by noon? would he 
resist removal if he couldn't? would there be a scene? 



;196 I,aFoulktte".s Winning ok Wisconsin 

were llie (juestions everywhere asked. Perhaps his 
friends might come to his aid and contest his removal 
by violence. There were rumors of injunctions, of 
armed men coming from Milwaukee, of possible "sur- 
prises." There was little doing in the treasury; the 
force was too unstrung for work. Early in the day 
Kempf had made a demand on the assistant treasurer. 
T. M. Purtell, for certain keys, but suspecting the treas- 
urer's motives the assistant refused to turn them over 
and was promptly told he could consider himself re- 
moved, but the incident ended there. Kempf then re- 
tired to his inner office and chatted casually for some 
hours with two Milwaukee friends and a newspaper re- 
porter, JStill the bonding company's experts were silent. 
At last the town whistles announced the noon hour and 
immediately a cloud of curious capitol officials and em- 
ployes gathered about the treasury door to await de- 
velopments. Kempf came out of his inner office and 
walked to one of the desks and just then the crowd gave 
way and C. C. Bennett, assistant superintendent of pub- 
lic property, walked rapidly in bearing a paper in his 
hand. In port and demeanor the big sAvarthy deputy 
suggested to the imagination the executioner of old, but 
his weapon was the invisible political axe. Stepping up 
10 Kempf he read the declaration of the latter 's practical 
removal, as follows : 

Executive Office, State of Wisconsin, Aug. 30, 1904. 
Jolm J. Kempf, Madison, Wis. 

Sir: You are lierchy notified that your failure to furnish the 
additional bond of $:i.50,00n as state treasurer, on or before 12 
o'clock noon, this thirtieth day of August, pursuant to the demand 
heretofore made upon you in writing by nie as governor of the 
state of Wisconsin creates a vacancy in the office of state treasurer 
of Wisconsin by ojioration of law. Therefore, I, Robert M. La- 
FoUettc, governor of the state of Wisconsin, do hereby formally 
declare the office of state treasurer of Wisconsin vacant. 

Tf. ^^. L \FoLi,F.TTF„ Governor. 



Befokk the Nationai, Co.we.n'tion 397 

Kempf listened attentively to the reading and at its 
conclusion undramatically said "all right" and returned 
to his inner office for his hat. The agony was over. 

This, however, was not the end nor the whole of the 
Kempf comedy, or tragedy. It was to continue a diver- 
sion to the very end of this campaign so rich in unusual 
features and incidents. In other words Kempf was to 
stage a little court side show of his own, independent of 
the big stalwart exhibit. 

Kempf had been renominated at the gymnasium con- 
vention with the other state officers, but a day or two 
after the exposure of the practices in the treasury he an- 
nounced his resignation from the ticket, having been 
smitten with fear after a visit from Chairman Connor 
and Theodore Kronshage. 

Scarcely had these persuasive worthies left him, how- 
ever, when Kempf changed his mind and announced that 
he proposed remaining on the ticket; that he had signed 
his resignation under the influence of threats made by 
Chairman Connor. On August 20 he discharged tAvo 
clerks, W. F. Duke and W. A. Richter, who were more 
or less actively hostile to the administration. This act 
was generally regarded as a bid on his part for greater 
consideration in the treasury matter or for his retention 
on the state ticket. However, this hope for favor seemed 
to prove a delusion and when three days later Governor 
LaFollette ordered him to raise his bond Kempf secured 
a temporary injunction from Judge Ilalsey of Milwau- 
kee restraining Chairman Connor and Secretary of State 
Houser from taking him off the ticket, although his 
resignation had been accepted. He set forth that he had 
signed his resignation only when threatened by Connor 
with prosecution for embezzlement if he would not do so. 

Also the day after Kempf 's removal Chief Justice 
Cassoday of the supreme court, signed an order upon 
the governor and other state officers to show cause why 



:tt)s I.aFom.ette's Winning of Wisconsin 

Kenipf should not be allowed 1o bring suit fur tlu.* re-' 
tention of the treasuryship. 

Finally on October 28, a few days before elect ion. 
Kempf secured from another Milwaukee court, Judge 
Ludwig, a decision holding that his alleged resignation 
was void. Kempf was allowed to remain on the ticket. 
As the campaign progressed in intensity his affair was so 
over.shadowed as to be practically forgotten. There was 
no disposition to further harry him and he was trium- 
phantly re-elected. 

In fact through the aid of sympathetic stalwart votes 
he made such a good showing in the election that it be- 
come a pa.ssing newspaper pleasantry to suggest "Kempf. 

the vote-getter," for the next United States senator. 

« • • 

The democratic platform of that year was but slightly 
less reactionary than that of ]!I02. The same interests 
that had dominated the preceding convention of the 
party reappeared at the convention of 1904 which opened 
at Oshkosh August 31 of that year, the last convention 
of its kind in Wisconsin. The array of railroad attor- 
neys was particularly significant. Former Senator Wil- 
liam F. Vilas of Madison, National Committeeman T. E. 
Ryan of Waukesha, Dave Rose of Milwaukee, Neal Brown 
of Wausau, J. ]\I. Clancey of Stoughton and T. M. 
Kearney of Racine led the forces of reaction. 

A valiant minority led by such men as J. L. 'Connor 
of Milwaukee, who was made chairman, W. G. Bruce, 
A. J. Schmitz and L. G. Bomrich of Milwaukee, John A. 
Walsh of Washburn and T. L. Cleary of Platteville 
sought to put the party in line with the progressive 
declarations of the republican administration and by 
hard fighting succeeded in saving the party from going 
the whole length in the matter of react ionnry doctrine. 
Before the convention opened it was predicted that the 
|)arty would reverse itself in its stand of two years be- 



Bkfokf: thk National Cowention 399 

fore, but with the arrival of Colonel Vilas on the scene 
and his selection as chairman of the committee on resolu- 
tions this hope was dispelled. He became the dominat- 
ing figure of the convention and molded its flabby body to 
his entire liking. The progressive members of the com- 
mittee on resolutions. Messrs. Bruce, Cleary, Burke, and 
Walsh, fought strongly fox a platform squarely endors- 
ing primary elections, a railway rate commission with 
power to fix rates. 2-cent fares, etc., and went to the ex- 
tent of bringing in a minority report, but amid taunts 
that their supportf^rs were LaFollette servitors these 
planks were voted down and milk-and-water substitutes 
adopted. 

The minority heartily favored "the principle of pri- 
mary elections," but the majority report pronounced it 
"undemocratic" as it had in 1902 and denounced the 
law then under a referendum. 

The railroad interests were particularly active in the 
convention and one delegate declared that the committee 
on resolutions was given to understand that one railroad 
campaign contribution alone of $15,000 could be ob- 
tained were a stand hostile to the LaFollette position 
taken with reference to railroads. If the old convention 
system was to be condemned because of its unrepresenta- 
tive, corrupting and immoral boss features, it was pecu- 
liarly appropriate that it should pass out of existence in 
Wisconsin under such auspices and practices a.s marked 
this occasion. , 

The amiable George W. Peck of Milwaukee, whose 
previous administrations had been marked by scandalous 
lobbying and a low official tone in general in the legisla- 
ture, was named for governor. 

While the formal speech making campaign of the ad- 
ministration may be said to have not begun until Oc- 
tober, it was a sort of continuous campaign on the part 
of the governor, who went out whenever he found op- 



400 LaFollette's Winning of Wisconsin 

portunity to do so. On August 18 he delivered a stir- 
ring and characteristic address in Eau Claire in which 
he outlined his story of the recent state conventions and 
repeated his defiant determination not to be influenced 
in his course whatever the decision of the supreme court 
might prove to be. Charging the railroads with having 
given rebates of $5,432,000 in five years, he declared that 
at the last session of the legislature Assemblyman Finne- 
gan of Green Bay had brought him a handful of letters 
from merchants asking for the passage of the rate com- 
mission bill and another handful of forged telegrams 
purporting to come from the same merchants protesting 
against the bill. 

Once under way. the campaign was pushed with ex- 
traordinary vigor by the opposing factions, who seemed 
for a time to have lost sight of the common democratic 
foe in their fierce intra-party rivalry. 

The first week in October was one of stirring develop- 
ments. On the first day LaFollette invaded Trempea- 
leau county and urged the defeat of Senator Gaveney. 
On the second. Chairman Goldin of the stalwart state 
central committee, announced that he would put a hun- 
dred speakers into the field to defeat LaFollette. The 
third day Senator Spooner issued a sweeping denial of 
the charges of Lincoln Steffens. On the fourth the inci- 
dents were the death of Postmaster General Payne at 
Washington, the suit of former Governor Scofield against 
the Milwavlxce ,Frcc Press and a speech by Senator 
Spoonor at Milwaukee in denunciation of LaFollette. 
The fiftli day the supreme court handed down its de- 
cision in the factional controversy, while on the follow- 
ing day Cook withdrew from the head of the stalwart 
ticket and Scofield was substituted in his place. Such 
were the unravelings in a week of the tangled skein of 
factional history. 

Desperate as seemed the pros])eets of his own personal 



Before the NatioiNai. Convention 401 

fortunes, LaPoUette did not hesitate to still further im- 
peril them b}^ asking the defeat of reactionary republican 
candidates for the legislature where he felt some reason- 
able assurance that they might be succeeded bj- progres- 
sives. 

The saving of self was not sufficient, as with the gen- 
erality of politicians; he resolved, if possible, to also 
carry with him a legislature of his own kind. Accord- 
ingly on October 1, he invaded Trempealeau county for 
a series of three speeches that day in the course of which 
he sharply assailed J. C. Gaveney, the stalwart state 
senator of the county. An interesting circumstance in 
connection with the day was the fact that he and Gaveney 
rode fifty miles that day on the same train, in fact oc- 
cupying the same railroad coach. 

An incident that gave the governor's friends some 
worry was the sending of a letter to National Chairman 
Cortelyou by 148 professed LaFollette men, saying that 
they would abide by the decision of the national conven- 
vention unless the supreme court should rule otherwise. 
Many feared that this apparent large defection from the 
governor 's standard would weaken him, but the governor 
pointed out that many, if not most of the signers were 
"weaklings" in the faith and would be found to have 
little influence. His vicAv was to prove correct. Few of 
the signers have since been heard from politically. 



CHAPTER XXVIII 
The Supreme Court Decision. 

Stalwarts Appear Before Tribunal — Demand Republican 
Column on Ballot — Attorneys in Big Legal Controversy — " 
Court Sustains State Central Committee — Cook Withdraws — 
Stalwarts Demoralized. 

1 HE victory of the stalwarts before the national con- 
vention was an important one, but another even more 
necessary from a tactical point of view had to be won. 
which was, to capture the republican column on the offi- 
cial ballot and thus obtain the further prestige of regu- 
larity. Secretary of State Houser, an administration 
partisan, who made up the ballot, stood in the way and 
could be overcome, if at all, only through the courts. To 
forestall delays, it was determined to ask the supreme 
court in the first instance for a writ restraining Houser 
from placing the LaFollette ticket in the republican 
column and directing him to give such place to the stal- 
wart ticket on the ground that the national convention 
was the highest party authority and that such national 
convention had placed the seal of regularity upon the 
stalwart convention. 

On August 9 the court, on motion of John M. Olin, 
granted the attorneys for the stalwarts, right to begin 
suit in equity for such injunction and the secretary of 
state was given two days for his answer. No injunction 
was ever issued by the court in this case. 

In line with its contention that the supreme court had 
no jurisdiction in a purely party or factional contro- 
versy the administration determined to proceed with 
regularity to obtain party recognition. 

With the prospect of two tickets making claim, Secre- 
tary of State Houser appealed to the old republican 



The Supremk Court Decision 403 

state central committee to determine which of the two 
conventions was regular and if it had acted properly 
and legally in its certification of the membership of the 
state convention. The stalwarts protested loudly at this, 
declaring that since that committee no longer existed it 
could neither be called together nor would its members 
have any jurisdiction. 

Nevertheless, the old committee met at Madison August 
18 and listened to a letter from Secretary of State 
Houser that demands had been made in behalf of two 
tickets to go in the republican column on the official 
ballot and that a decision was desired from the commit- 
tee as to which was entitled to recognition. 

With great solemnity and regularity the committee 
decided it could not go ahead in such a serious matter 
without a full knowledge of the facts and the giving of 
both sides an opportunity to be heard. So an adjourn- 
ment was taken to September 12 to give the attorneys 
time to present their testimony and briefs. 

On SeptembeFT2 the old committee again met in a 
room in the Brown block at Madison. Present were 
Gen. George E. Bryant, chairman; C. 0. Marsh, secre- 
tary; Theodore Kronshage, John M. Nelson, C. C. Git- 
tings, Perry C. Wilder, J. C. McKenzie, J. A. Stone, S. 
E. Gemon, W. T. Sarles, H. J. Van Cleve, S. J. Brad- 
ford, T. P. Dousman, Dwight T. Parker and W. H. 
Smith. I. L. Lenroot appeared as attorney for the ticket 
headed by LaFollette while Olin & Butler, Madison, were 
present for the Cook ticket. 

Mr. Olin immediately made the point that since the old 
committee had passed out of existence it had nothing to 
say about party procedure. Whereupon to consider this 
point the committee voted to go into executive session. 
Newspapermen and attorneys were excluded with other 
visitors. After an hour, in which time it is said some 
excellent cigars were consumed, the comiiiittoo reopenod 



404 LaFoi.lkttk'.s Wi.xxi.ng of Wisconsin 

the doors aud declared that after due consideration it 
was found the objections of Olin & Butler were not well 
taken and consequently were overruled; the attorneys 
would proceed. 

Mr. Olin refused to do so and withdrew, whereupon 
Mr. Lenroot took up the examination of witnesses. State 
Chairman W. D. Connor was called. It had been "worth 
coming far and staying long" to have heard the inter- 
esting story counsel solemnly drew from the injured 
state chairman, remarked a visitor present. As if the 
members of the committee and counsel had never heard 
of the convention (over which said counsel had himself 
presided), Connor gravely told of this historic meeting, 
of the cruel attempted usurpation by the stalwarts, of 
the abuse and insults to which he and his associates had 
been subjected, of the regular, correct and dignified 
course the administration and the new committee had 
ever pursued, and finally of the arbitrary and shameless 
action of the national convention, and the attempt now of 
a brutal and bolting faction to obtain a place on the 
party ticket. 

The committee decided that another executive session 
was necessary. Again after an hour it reopened the 
doors and announced its decision that the gj'mnasium 
convention was the regular one, that its ticket was the 
real republican article and that the national convention 
was not competent to decide in the matter. A statement 
to this effect was signed by all the administration mem- 
bers. 

Of this extraordinary proceeding the Milwaukee Sen- 
tinel said ironically: 

The old committee did its duty. It haled itself before the 
council composed of itself, heard its own case, acted as court, 
prisoner, prosecuting attorney, defendant's attorney, jury, sheriff,' 
court crier and clerk of the court and after a full and impartial 
hearing pronounced itself "not guilty." 



The Supremk Coukt Decision 405 

On September 5, in a crowded courtroom, the admin- 
istration, represented by H. W. Chynoweth, attorney, 
and R. M. Bashford, I. L. Lenroot and John Barnes, of 
counsel, made its formal reply in the form of a counter 
motion for dismissal of the complaint and suit on the 
ground that the court lacked jurisdiction; that the juris- 
diction was committed to the state central committee of 
1902, under section 35, revised statutes of 1898, reading 
in part: 

''When two or more conventions or caucuses shall be 
held and the nominations thereof certified, each claiming 
to be the regular convention or caucus of the same poli- 
tical party, preference in designation shall be given to 
the nominations of the one certified by the committee 
which had been officially certified to be authorized to 
represent the party." The case was set for hearing 
September 14 and printed briefs were ordered to be 
filed by that date. When the case came up for hearing 
the court for two days listened to able arguments on the 
question of jurisdiction. 

In the meantime the decision of the supreme court 
was awaited with the keenest anticipations, in spite of 
the professed indifference of the leaders in both factions, 
and their declarations not to be deterred from their re- 
spective courses by it. The morning of September 27, on 
which day the decision was expected to come down, the 
court room was crowded with politicians who listened 
intently for "State No. 11." But no decision was an- 
nounced. Plainly there was much disappointment. 
Were it not to come down for three more weeks— the 
regular time for the next decisions— the time would be 
short to turn the verdict into the most effective political 
capital. In the meantime there was nothing to prevent 
the secretarv of state from placing the LaFollette ticket 
in the coveted column; both the present and the preced- 
ing state central committees were prepared to certify to 



406 LaFolmcitk's Wix.vinc; of Wisconsin 

such ticket. However, they resolved to respectfully 
await the court's findhiff. 

Finally, early in the morning of October 5 notice was 
quietly sent the newspapers that a decision would come 
down that forenoon. The papers promptly cleared their 
columns and pulled down their biggest type for the han- 
dling of the great story. All newsboys were called in 
to handle the "extras" and decrepit typewriting ma- 
chines began everywhere clicking out new political 
guesses and speculations. 

The decision was a victory for the administration. 
Three judges, Justices Marshall — who wrote the opinion 
— Winslow and Dodge, took the administration's view. 
Chief Justice Cassoday dissenting. Justice Siebecker 
took no part in the proceedings. 

Naturally, the decision occasioned the greatest rejoic- 
ing in the administration camp, and the governor created 
great enthusiasm in a rural audience in AVaukesha county 
by dramatically producing a telegram announcing the 
decision and reading it aloud. 

In its decision the court said in opening : 

The controversy shown to exist by the foregoing sufficiently 
concerns the prerogatives of the state, and affects the liberties of 
the people, to be within the original jurisdiction of this court. 

Continuing it said: 

The decision of the national rejuiblioan convention as to which 
of the two sets of delegates from this state claiming the right to 
represent the republican party thereof in such convention was 
entitled to recognition is not of any significance as a guide to the 
secretary of state, or to the committee authorized to determine 
the factional dispute under said section 35, since the exclusive 
jurisdiction thereof, as regards the official ballot law, was con- 
ferred by the legislature upon the latter as a special tribunal as 
before indicated. * * * It is the duty of the secretary of state 
to act accordingly, certifying both sets of nominations to the 
various county clerks, but giving to those headed by Eobert M. 
LaFollette, for governor, preference as aforesaid. • » ♦ Duly 
constituted authority having spoken within its jurisdiction it must 
be conclusively presumed held to have spoken rightly. 



The Suprkmk Court Diet lsion 407 

A day or two afterward Chief Justice Cassoday 
handed down an opinion, saying in part : 

As I understand, this court has not undertaken to determine 
which of the two conventions was composed of a majority of the 
rightfully elected delegates. » * ♦ The whole question is thus 
made to turn upon the power of the comniittee and not upon the 
(juestion whether the one convention or the other was composed of 
a majority of the rightfully elected delegates. To bar from the 
convention, even for the purposes of organization, the rightful 
rej'resentatives of voters is, as it seoins to nie, in effect to bar 
out the voters who sent them. 

The decision caused great chagrin among the stal- 
warts. It was realized that it was a death blow to their 
liopes. The State Journal insinuated band wagon pro- 
clivities on the part of the court and suggested supjiort 
of Peek, the democratic nominee, saying : 

There is everything to gain and nothing to lose by abating this 
growing nuisance known as LaFolletteism. 

Apart from politics it will be heavenly to have peace restored 
to this state. Bob LaFolIette has led us all a hard race for a 
half dozen years. Poor Myrick, one of the best of fellows in 
normal times, must be worn out; and everyone who is even re- 
motely related to this factional row has been reduced to nervous 
prostration. Bob done it. It is all for his glory. Can't we make 
up a fund and ship this stormy ])etrel to some island of the sea 
where he can stand on an isolated cliff and make speeches to the 
suckers of the sea and the gulls of the air? Wisconsin is weary— 
oh, so weary, of LaFolIette 's tempest! Let us arise and smg, 
"Rest, Perfect Rest!" 

True to his declaration that he would abide by the 
decision of the supreme court. Cook promptly resigned 
from the stalwart state ticket as candidate for governor 
when the court decided that the LaFolIette ticket was 
entitled to the recognition of regularity. This action 
coupled with that of the court, had a most depressingand 
demoralizing effect on the stalwart organization. With 
the general abandoning his army at a most crucial point, 
the contest now practically degenerated into a rout. 
To save appearances, former Governor Edward Sco- 



408 LAFoi.ijniK's Wixxivi. ok Wisconsin 

field was substituted for Cook, and so great was Scofield 's 
hatred of LaFollette that he readily consented to the 
sacrifice in the hope of thereby defeating LaFollette by 
dividing the party vote. 

Scofield was a better fighter than Cook, and a few days 
before had proved this by instituting a suit for $100,000 
against the Milwaukee Free Press for carrying a story 
to the effect that while a member of the state senate, 
Scofield had handled Sawyer money during a United 
States senatorship election. However, Senator Spooner 
advised the withdrawal of the stalwart state ticket and 
on October 10, the state central committee of that fac- 
tion, met and considered this suggestion under the guise 
of thereby saving the republican presidential ticket. 
The proposition was not adopted, however, and Spooner 
was urged to remain in the field and continue the fight 
on LaFollette. Accordingly he made two more speeches 
against LaFollette and then returned to the east to re- 
main until near the close of the campaign. 

Secretary of State Houser and Treasurer Kempf were 
not the only state officers involved in litigation during 
this memorable campaign. All of them, with the excep- 
tion of the superintendent of public instruction, were 
more or less so involved. 

Commissioner of Insurance Zeno M. Host staged a big 
spocifd exhibit of his own. as was remarked at the time, 
by taking up the cudgels against the two mighty insur- 
ance companies — the Equitable and the Prudential, and 
then as a side diversion bringing action against two Mil- 
waukee newspapers. Host had ruled that the Equitable 
society was obliged to distribute its surplus every five 
years. About $8,000,000 in surplus was involved in 
Wisconsin alone, it was claimed. The Equitable re- 
sisted Host's ruling, and obtained an injunction restrain- 
ing him from revoking its license, as he threatened to 
do if it did not make such distribution. Host, however, 



The Sui'ui:mk Court Decision Ki'i 

was sustained in the lower court whereupon the coiupany 
carried the case to the supreme court. 

In the meantime, trouble had arisen with llie Pruden- 
tial company. An examination of the company's books 
had disclosed that over half of its 40,000 shares were held 
by the Fidelity Trust Company of Newark, N. J., mak- 
ing the solvency of the Prudential dependent on the 
solvency of the trust company. When Host therefore 
sought to make an examination of the trust company and 
was refused any information, he gave notice that he 
would refuse to renew the license of the Prudential com- 
pany to do business in Wisconsin. At this the Pruden- 
tial company secured an injunction temporarily restrain- 
ing the commissioner from revoking the license. Host 
charged that the trust company was underwriting a large 
number of public service corporations and was fearful of 
an examination and furthermore that the two insurance 
companies had leagued to discredit and defeat him as 
shown by the fact that the same attorneys appeared 
against him for both companies. It was a sinister at- 
tempt on the part of the Equitable, he declared, to retain 
$70,000,000 of surplus due its policy holders. 

Host was a good fighter, big of body, clear of head, 
thick of skin, decisive and unafraid, and so far from be- 
ing embarrassed by his fights with these big corporations, 
he also brought suit for $150,000 damages against the 
Milwaukee SentineJ and the Milwaukee Daily Neivs for 
making too free with his official troubles with the insur- 
ance companies. 

Governor LaFollette himself did Trojan work on the 
stump that fall. Speaking of it afterward he said: 
"For forty-eight days I was on the stump, with only 
Sundays out, and averaged eight hours and a half on my 
feet, and then there were thirty counties that I didn't go 
into at all from choice. You see, I Avas campaigning for 
members of the legislature. I went into those counties 



410 LaF'oi.lki ik's Winning of Wisconsin 

only where I thought bad men ought to be beaten or good 
men elected. I ought to have made such a campaign in 
1902, but there were other complications then. In 1904, 
however, I determined to get a legislature of the right 
kind. It was nothing to me to be governor of Wiscon- 
sin without being able to accomplish anything. ' ' 

Some further idea of the enormous industry of LaFol- 
lette in tiiis campaign may be formed from the part he 
took in the publicity feature of it alone. In the course of 
the campaign that year 1.160.000 pamphlets were .sent 
out, ten to each of 160,000 voters. And Governor La- 
Follette himself i)ractically wrote all these i)amphl('ts. 
One was blocked out by C'luirles K. Lush and another by 
Walter L. Houser, but both were rewritten by LaFollette. 
In addition to this he prepared a speech applicable to 
each county he visited showing the freight rates in Illi- 
nois and Iowa. In this enormous work the compilation 
of the figures was done by Ilalford E. Erickson, com- 
missioner of statistics, w^hile LaFollette himself worked 
out the comparisons. The other pamphlets included one 
on primary elections, a roll call of the stalwart members 
of the legislature of 1903, a reply to E. L. Philipp's "Red 
Book" on the railroads, a parallel column exposure of 
Amos P. Wilder, editor of the Wisconsin State Journal, 
and one entitled "The Truth About Incomes and Ex- 
penses of the Administration," and others. 

On the evening of October 5, the day the supreme 
court handed down its decision in the factional case. 
Senator Spooner spoke at Milwaukee, opening his cam- 
paign for the stalwart ticket. In this address he di- 
rected a sharp attack against the primary election law, 
which is interesting as summing up the objections to that 
measure. In part he said, as reported in the Milwaukee 
Sriitiiul : 

For myself, I flo not intend to vote for this primary election 
law wliifh ifl now pending; before the people. It is radical. I 
sujipose none tmirc radioni has ever been drafted. I would have 



The Supkkmk Corur Di:< ision 411 

voted against the Stevens bill if I had been a memlier ol" tho 
legislature. And I would have voted for the Hageiiieister bill. 

I do not like this proposition. I say nothing about doubts as 
to its constitutionality, as violating the constitutional guaranty of 
the secrecy of the ballot. But vrhen apjilied to a large area like 
a state there are some objections which are printed here; most 
of them are good: 

Because the voters cannot have personal knowledge of the com- 
parative fitness of candidates with whom they are not acquainted, 
and are in danger of voting for persons who are unworthy of trust 
and who would not, if known, command their confidence and sup- 
port. 

Because the system necessarily keeps out of office everybody 
but office-seekers and tends to swell the number of that class. 

You stop to think about that. Under this system no office can 
seek the. man; the man must seek the office. 

No man finds the door to serve the public unless he opens it 
himself or hires someone to do it for him. I think the office- 
seeking class is large enough now, don't you? (Laughter and 
applause.) 

Because the expense of making a canvass to secure the nomina- 
tion is a practical bar to a poor man. * * * 

Because it gives the rich an advantage over the poor. Because 
it authorizes nominations by minorities, which in case of a large 
number of men for one office may be only a small fraction of the 
voters; because it subjects the people to the annoyance and burden 
of two campaigns instead of one; because it secures to men in 
office a manifest advantage over new men and prevents rotation. 
* * * 

This thing destroys the j.arty machine which is to fight the 
enemv and substitutes in its place personal machinery for every 
candidate for office. Continuous correspondence, pictures of your- 
self, puffs of vourself, the reasons why you are the best fitted 
man on earth to discharge the duties of the office, and then the next 
step is the reason whv your leading competitor is not fit ; and so 
you get an atmposphcre of scandal, of self-seeking, of rivalry, 
with innuendo, insinuation, slander— we are getting a taste of it 
now in anticipation. 

The appearance of E. L. Fliilipp's so-call.'d -H'''! 
Book" entitled "The Truth About Wisconsin Frei^rht 
Rates." was a literary event of the campaign. The 
great battle in the legislative session of W0:\ over the 



412 LaFoilkiik's Wi.nm.m. of Wistonsin 

railway commission hill had fiidcd in dcfcal for the ad- 
ministration. Accordingly Governor LaFoUette had a 
new issue to carry before tlie county fairs in the fall of 
that year and he pressed it with vigor. To make it 
effective he had tables prepared by Ilalford E. Erickson, 
applicable to each important i)oint in the state where he 
spoke, showing that the people of Wisconsin, which state 
had no railway commission, were paying higher freight 
rates than the people of Iowa, for instance, with a com- 
mission to regulate rates, and that consequently the peo- 
ple of Wisconsin were the victims of discrimination. 
To counteract the effect of these speeches and that of 
LaFollettc's famous address at the Milton Junction 
grange January 29, the railroads put a corps of expert 
statisticians and newspapermen at work to jirej^are other 
tables to prove either the falsity of LaFollette's state- 
ments or the erroneousness of his conclusions, as the case 
might be. For each city where LaFoUette spoke, and 
at many points where he did not appear, such tables were 
prepared and were printed in some local stalwart paper, 
purporting to be the results of inde]iendent investiga- 
tions of such paper. 

^Milwaukee, Oshkosh, Madison, LaCrosse, Fond du Lac, 
Appleton, Racine, Janesville. Rhinelander. Monroe, 
Whitewater, Green Bay, Ripon, Hudson, Platteville. 
Waupaca, Necedah, Wausau. Kilbourn, Lodi. Wauwatosa 
— these Avere among the points where local editors seemed 
to have suddenly discovered a passion for, and a famil- 
iarity with, intricate railway statistics that would have 
indicated to the unsuspecting mind a superior order of 
intelligence in the AVisconsin press were it not for the 
similarity of the articles and editorials printed. Columns 
upon columns of figures were presented. Occasionally 
some seemingly obscure or misleading statement would 
be taken up in other papers for further elucidation or 
discussion, thus giving the a]i]iearan('t> of continued in- 



Ti[K Sli>ki:.mi. Corm Di:risio\ 413 

terest in the subject. Smaller i-ouiity sheets were di- 
rected to reprint from the larger ones and give the latter 
credit. Tims a sort of endless chain was set in motion. 
Unctuous eulogies of railroads that liad been used in the 
granger railroad fights of thirty years before were among 
the not wholl}^ unamusing features of the publication. 

The "Red Book," comprising 240 pages, consisted of 
clippings of these articles and editorials and a compari- 
son of the distance tariif rates of Iowa and Wisconsin. 
But the Wisconsin rates employed by Philipp in his com- 
parisons were not the same rates as those quoted by La- 
Follette in his speeches the year before, and thereby 
hangs a tale. 

Although the railroads had all along contended that 
freight rates in Wisconsin were as low as, or lower than, 
those in Iowa, just before New Year's. 1904, they an- 
nounced that rates in Wisconsin would be reduced at the 
opening of the year. Particular stress Avas laid on the 
announcement that coal rates would be reduced 25 cents 
a ton. And certain rates were reduced. That the rail- 
roads were making a bid for jniblic favor thereby and 
hoped also to disarm LaFollette and avert further stale 
interference by their action, was charged by the admin- 
istration press. The Wisconsin State Journal said : 

Naturallv the question is asked whether political agitation haa 
•effected these reductions. The fact that the railroads refrained 
from joining issue with the governor when he was making his 
denunciatory speeches may have been explained by the intention 
of revising the rates, now accomplished. The railroad companies 
have clever men as well as the political world. Nevertheless the 
companies are building not for a day. Governors come and go, 
but the railroad tracks remain. 

The reduction of rates, however, did not bring about 
any cessation in LaFollette 's crusade for further regula- 
tion. In his speech at Milton Junction in January. 1!»04. 
soon after the reductions went into effect, he said : 

Tn opposing tlie bill to create the railway commission wnth power 
to reduce transportation rates on state tratlic. the re present a t.vos 



414 LaFoi.leitk's Wi.nm.nc. ok Wisconsin 

of the railroad companies publicly stated before the railroad com- 
mittee of the last legislature that freight rates in Wisconsin were 
just and reasonable, and were not higher than the Iowa rates estab 
lished by the commission in that state. Day after day and week 
after week, these railroad lobbyists assured members of the legis- 
lature that no discriminations in freight charges existed against 
the people of this state as compared with the neighboring states 
where railway commissions were in control. 

All the active agencies at the command of the railroads, lobbyists 
and legislative agents, their press and their political supj)orters. 
raised the cry that any reduction of transportation chaiges would 
be grossly unfair to the railroads, under whose fostering care 
Wisconsin had made whatever industrial progress it had attained: 
that any change whatever would disturb the nicely-adjusted bal- 
ance between the railroads and the shippers of Wisconsin, and 
that prosperity in the Badger state was imperiled by this uncalled 
for attempt to reduce rates which were already as low in this state 
as they could possibly be. 

The awful example of granger legislation was revived, and the 
ghost of disaster to railroads and business interests, resulting from 
the granger legislation, again stalked over the state. Superan- 
nuated politicians, in long-forgotten and iMiforced retirement, were 
brought forth to tell over and over again their harrowing tale of 
that trying period. And the sliipjiers came, too, certain of them, 
and joined in the solemn chant that rates were low enough. 

But the state did not rest its case there. The evidence which 
it had j)roduced in overwhelming mass before the legislature, was 
laid before the people. Summons came from every section and 
corner of the state for the facts and figures showing the exact 
discriminations in favor of Iowa and Illinois, which under the 
appeals of the railroads and their lobby, had been rejected by the 
legislature. Whenever men were gathered together they called, as 
you have called, to be ])ut in possession of the facts accumulated, 
showing the [)recise rate relation existing between tliis state, where 
the railroads fix transportation charges, and Iowa and Illinois, 
where the state, through its conmiission, estaldislies the rate. It 
became clearly manifest to the railroads before the county fair 
had closed, that their jirotests and denials that there were no dis- 
criminations against Wisconsin, which had jirevailed with the 
legislature, would not jirevail with the people. Something had to 
be done. Conferences were called, the lobbyists and the repre- 
sentatives of corporations, in office and out of office, were sum- 
moned, and a new course of action determined upon. 



TuE SupREMK Court Dk( ision 415 

And in face of all the denials that there were any discrimina- 
tions, of the solemn declarations that no disturbance of the deli- 
cately adjusted balance could by any possibility be suffered, it was 
decided that consistency must be sacrificed — tliat rates must bo 
lowered. 

What a confession this whole jiroceeding makes! How com- 
pletely are they unmasked! Tliey had almost sworn that Wiscon- 
sin rates were ' ' already as low as those of Illinois, with the single 
exception of coal, and on an equality with those of the state of 
Iowa." 'The "situation would admit of no change." Railroad 
interests and the public interests alike ' ' could not by any pos- 
sibility stand the strain," and yet, in the hope of averting ap- 
proaching defeat, awed at last by the power of public opinion, 
ignoring all their former declarations, repudiating all of the testi- 
mony which they presented to the legislature, and which their 
press has since repeated over and over again, they have at last 
admitted their rates too high, and are giving up to the people, 
for the time being, a little out of the large amount which they are 
wrongfully taking from them day by day. 

I am glad that they have at last been forced to concede their 
rates too high. While the amount reduced is but a fraction of 
the immense sum they are wrongfully taking from the jieople of 
Wisconsin, it completely overturns all their denials; it destroys 
the value of all their testimony, and gives away their entire case. 

I have confidence to believe that the people will discern the 
hollowness and the sham that goes with any reductions conceded 
at this time with the hope of escaping the enactment of a statute 
which shall put an end for all time to extortionate charges and 
demoralizing discriminations. No siren song, sung in double 
chorus for "harmony" and "compromise," will result otherwise 
than in sacrificing all of the ground gained during the protractcl 
struggle, covering now almost ten years of time. 

The "Red Book" led to the appearance of a siiuihir 
but smaller pamphlet issued by the administration, as 
stated, to refute the assertion and conclusions of the 
Philipp publication. 



CHAPTER XXIX 

Incidents in Progress of Campaign. 

Lincoln Steffens Visits Madison — Vindicates Coursk or 
Administration — Governor in Strenuous Campaign — Typical 
Hard Day in Northern Wisconsin. 

vJrIGIXALITY and thoroughness marked many fea- 
tures of tlie campaign, particularly on the part of the ad- 
ministration. The work of organization was carried out 
to the finest detail. 

In the course of his campaigning Governor LaFoUette 
had obtained the most complete list of voters in the state, 
perhaps, that any politican ever had. There was first 
an emergency list of live and influential adherents who 
could be relied upcm to jump a train or open their purses 
at a single flasli when needed, — a splendid militant force 
of some 1,500 or more; then a list of 10,000 unquestioned 
supporters, and finally a large list of 100,000 or more 
voters to whom reasonable appeal for aid could be made. 
Nearly every one was set down, with his residence, na- 
tionality, party, age, and factional bias or sympathy. 
However, for this campaign the governor determined 
upon organization based on the smallest political luiits, 
the school districts. John M. Nelson, later congressman, 
undertook the inauguration of this comprehensive 
scheme. In every school district of the state, so far as 
practicable, some devoted supporter of the governor was 
deputized to canvass the district, keep the prop.iVandic 
leaven working and get out the full administratiOiV vote. 
It was a scheme that for thoroughness had never before 
been apin'oached in the ])o]iti('al history of the state and 
which in general gave prolitatilc results. 

Some idea of the extent of the activity taken bj' out- 
side interests in the cnnipnigii was revealed some years 



Incidents in Pkoi.kkss oi Campaign 417 

later. James A. Manahan, the well known Minnesota 
lawyer, and later congressman, while prosecuting a case 
for some shippers before the Minnesota rate commission, 
asked a representative of the Hill interests, without, he 
said, expecting any results: 

"Yon fellows spend some money in politics, don't 
you ? " 

"()h, a little," replied the witness. 

' ' Well, you spent $50.,000 to defeat LaFollette for gov- 
ernor of Wisconsin the last time ho ran, didn't you?" 

"Oh, no; not that much." 

"Well, you sent a hundred men into the state to beat 

him, didn't you?" 

"No, we sent only sixty." 

* * * 

Soon after the Chicago convention there appeared in 
Madison an interesting personage in Lincoln Steffens 
of McClure's magazine, the man who paved the way for 
the flood of literature of exposure that was sweeping over 
the land. He had "written up" the corruption of some 
of the great cities and had coined the term "enemies of 
the republic" as most applicable to public officials who 
served private interests instead of the people. Echoes 
of the turmoil in Wisconsin had reached to New York 
and he came to see what the noise was all about. The 
news of his coming created a flutter in both camps and 
he was eagerly courted by both sides. As if to prejudge 
his conclusions, both sides were laudatory of his past 
work in exposing corruption and laying on the lash of 
censi e. The stalwarts professed to be in high glee at 
his.c -ning. Here was a man of trained eye, of keen, 
discrimina'ting judgment, of unquestioned courage ami 
disinterested motives. He would see things in the clear 
light of an unprejudiced outsider and lay bare the hy- 
pocrisy, the humbug, the insanity, the ignorance of 
LaFoUetteism and "reform." and prick the bubble with 

27 



418 LaFoi i.KriK's Winnim. of \Vik<on8IN 

his satiric pen. Tliu administration i)r«'ss wa.s more dis- 
creetlj' silent and calmly await eil his findin«?s. He spent 
hours in conference with leaders oi" i)Oth factions. The 
governor gave him an audience and the stalwarts dele- 
gated two of their most experienced newspapermen, CoL 
William J. Anderson and Amos P. ^Vilder, to present 
the indictment against the executive, with adjurations 
to be tactful. Stelfens gave no hint as to his conclusions 
and both sides were probably equally unprepared for the 
unreserved vindication he gave the LaFollette cause and 
his equally sweeping indictment of the stalwarts. It be- 
came the literary sensation of the hour. Steffens was 
now subjected to unmerciful scoring by the stalwart 
press. Senator Spooner issued a five-column reply ex- 
plaining some phases of his political life on which Stef- 
fens had reflected. That the magazinist had fallen be- 
fore the hypnotic power of the governor was the most 
charitable explanation of the stalwart newspapers. Said 
the Stair Journal : 

The governor 's hypnotic powers are proverbial and even Steffen.s, 
who has resisted the best of them in other states, proved an easy 
morsel for our governor. It was a great stroke for our Bob when 
he put his hand on Steffens' elbow and gathered him in. Steffens 
yielded. As Mr. Weller said, "I didn't think you'd a done it." 

• • • 

The one unfailing string on which LaFollette 's enemies 
harped in season and out, on dull days and exciting 
alike, was the alleged political activity of the game 
wardens. The sins of tho game warden, according to 
these critics, comprehendetl almost the complete category 
of human ini([uity, and it was actually proved by the 
stalwarts that one warden had once drawn thirty-one 
days' pay in the month of June. This fact was bla/oned 
in l)ig headlines in the press of the state and no reply 
was made to it until Attorney General Sturdevant in a 
speech hapi)ily observed : "The railroads have defrauded 



Incidents in Pko(;kess ok Cajiiwicx 41';» 

the state out of two niiliious in taxes ; the stalwarts reply 
that one game warden has charged a day over time. ' ' 

There was double reason for the dislike of the game 
wardens. In the first place they were enforcing the 
laws wuth reference to the protection of game with tin- 
first approach to anything like effectiveness in the history 
of the state, and the consequent curtailing of time-hon- 
ored license was not popular in many sections where the 
law had long been winked at. In the second place, it 
cannot be denied that they made the most of their oppor- 
tunities for political proselyting and formed an army 
of effective propagandists. One of them, of German de- 
scent, A'isited Rock county pretending to be one "01c 
Olson," a Norwegian horse buyer from Blue Mounds, 
seeking heavy draft horses. He carried a grip marked 
"0. 0." and knowing everyone at Blue Mounds and 
being able to talk Norwegian he was not suspected. The 
northern half of Rock county was thus organized by him 
before the stalwarts learned of his designs, and was 
carried for LaFollette. 

As illustrating the awe in which they Avere held, a 
Madison attorney tells this story : "I was holding forth 
at a democratic rally in Friendship, Adams county, one 
night and in the course of my remarks made a statemeni 
which caused a tall individual to rise up in the audience 
and sing out, 'You're a liar!' 

"That's pretty plain speaking, thought I, but as the 
fellow appeared to be at least nine feet high and being 
but half that myself T concluded not to challenge him to 
settle it after the meeting as T might otherwise have don.', 
but asked him to leave the hall if he could not deport hnii- 
self like a gentleman. He refused to do so. however, 
and soon afterward again arose and branded me a liar. 
Again at mv request he refused to sit down or leave the 
hall, so I turned to the sheriff of the county, who was 
sittinf' on the platform from wl.ich T was speaking, a.i.l 



420 LaFoi.i.kii i;'s Wi.n.m.nc. of Wisconsin 

asked him to i)iit the i'ollow out. The sheriff was a demo- 
crat, too, but (lid not stir at my re<iuest. A look of in- 
credulit}' passed over his face as if in surprise at my pre- 
sumption in asking such a thing, and turning to me he 
whispered hoarsely, 'Game warden!' " 

* * * 

The so-called rape of the stalwart supreme court briefs 
in this case was one of the mild sensations of the time. 
These briefs had been prepared with great thoroughness 
and care by the stalwart attorneys and it was freely pre- 
dicted by the stalwart leaders that they would have a 
poAverful effect on the public mind when finally laid be- 
fore the supreme court. A day or two before this elabor- 
ate indictment was to be presented, however, the stal- 
wart leaders and their attorneys were struck dumb by 
finding their whole argument exposed in the Milwaukee 
Free Press. All the points of their briefs were published 
with a tantalizing fullness that smote tliem with rage 
and despair. In some manner some daring and resource- 
ful LaFollette rapscallion had gained access to the com- 
posing room of the State Journal at Madison and had 
"pulled a proof" of the plates of the briefs before they 
had been printed and thus prematurely exploded the 
whole stalwart argument. "While it made little differ- 
ence in the status of things, and was of little practical 
value to the LaFollette cause, perhaps, it was a source of 
much mortification and humiliation to the stalwarts as 
the time was too short to alter the briefs; hence, they 
were submitted to the court as originally written. But 
their "thunder" stolen, it was "dead news" that they 
thus submitted to the court and no sensation followed 

the presentation. 

• * • 

In the sharp warfare that was waged it was necessary 
at times to resort to ci])her codes and oIIut devices to 
prevent leakage of cominuuications. Private letters to 



Incidents in Pk<x.ri:ss ok Campai<;n 421 

the g-overiior would occasionally become the property of 
his political enemies before they reached his hands, some- 
times even appearing in print. It was often next to im- 
possible, says a Milwaukee authority, to get into tele- 
phonic communication with him from Milwaukee and 
occasionally when the desired connection would be nuid<' 
there were suspicious indications of eavesdropping. But 
those who had occasion to talk over the phone with the 
governor in those days will recall that he dropped little 
on which the enemy might profit ; that he was an adept 
at talking in significant riddles. On the other hand, he 
would occasionally "cut loose" in reckless spirit and 
speak out regardless of consequences. Telephone con- 
versations were frequently carried on in foreign tongues. 
"I brushed up my German in great shape in my tele- 
phone talks with Milwaukee," said one half-breed par- 
tisan afterward. Even the dying Welsh tongue did 
great service on one occasion when Assemblyman Evans 
was able through it to give a quick and vital call to 
a capitol messenger to round up a missing legislator. 

To ensure greater secrecy and safety in dispatching 
of important letters resort was had to unusual devices. 
Frequently letters were sent by express, one little letter 
often being all that would be found in the heart of a big 
express package. It sounds incredible at this day, but 
occasionally the governor would receive a letter stating 
that another letter with the desired matter would be 
found in an express package sent. Likewise a hand-to- 
hand system of transmission Avas put into operation. A 
baggageman running between Milwaukee and Madison 
carried letters between the two headquarters, receiving 
them from a messenger at one end and giving them to 
another messenger at the other end. Frequently the teh>- 
phone or telegraph between two points would be used 
telling of the sending of a letter. In such cases of course 
the governor himself would not be called up; that would 



422 LaFollltte's Winning oi' Wisconsin 

not do ; but some lieutenant would receive the secret word 
to meet a certain train. 

Rather expensive letter writing such, but war is costly. 

• • • 

Feeling ran so high that occasionally some public 
speaker found discretion the better part of valor. A 
young newspaperman employed by the stalwarts was 
booked to speak one evening in a small town in Trem- 
pealeau county. As he sat on the platform waiting for 
the crowd to gather he noticed that a large block of seats 
directly in front of the platform had been reserved for 
some purpose and was not being filled. Just before the 
hour of opening a half hundred husky Norwegians came 
storming in and boisterously took possession of the re- 
served section. Like their viking forbears of old each 
carried an enormous circular shield which bore in great 
letters, "Roosevelt and LaFollette," and ringing cheers 
w^ere given for these worthies before sitting down. The 
speaker, as he afterwards stated, realized that he was 
virtually a prisoner of war and cudgelled his brain for 
some tack on which to save appearances. A happy idea 
finally seized him. He saw in the audience the high 
school principal of the town, a man whom he had known 
in the university. Seizing on this straw he began with 
an expression of his pleasure at visiting the town and 
seeing again an old college friend. Then some time was 
spent in compliments to the principal and in dwelling on 
the value of higher education in general, following which 
diplomatic paving he discussed the political situation 
in a largely non-committal manner and then as gracefully 
as possible left the platform while the hall rang with up- 
roarious demonstrations for LaFollette. 

* * # 

So excited did people become liiat democrats as well 
as republicans were "set by the ears." Old line bour- 
bons "who didn't know the war Avas over" and who 



IncidkiXts ix PRO(;ifKss OK Cajip.ui.n 423 

hitherto had always taken "their polities and their drinks 
straight" allowed themselves to be bewitched from party 
idolatry and cracked one anothers' heads in true Kill- 
kenny style OA^er LaFollette. 

But if the democrats became wrought up what shall be 
said of the republicans? Houses were divided against 
one another ; father was set against son, brother against 
brother, and even sister against sister. Business part- 
nerships were disrupted. Children of opposing factions 
occasionally were not permitted to play together, the 
parents of the one side regarding the children of the 
other as something almost unclean. Dear friends were 
estranged and occasion all}- husband and wife came near 
to dangerous points of disagreement. Doubtless the case 
of a prominent Madison family had many counterparts. 

In this instance the husband was an ardent LaFollette 
man while his wife chose to stand by her father's family 
against LaFolletteism. Accordingly the husband sub- 
scribed for the LaFollette organ and swore by it, while 
his wife read assiduously the rival organ of stalwartism 
and declared the political pabulum it provided the only 
bona fide manna. Even schoolgirls were caught up in the 
exciting whirl and many a father was put in a dilemma 
by quarreling daughters appealing to him to decide be- 
tween the merits of their respective causes and candi- 
dates. One spirited LaFollette girl in Madison per- 
emptorily ordered out of the house a stalwart canvasser 
who came seeking to influence her father and to secure 
her wavering sire against further argument she called 
him in from the garden and read him a lecture on his 

political duty. 

It may sound incredulous and ridiculous at this da} 
yet it is literally true that in many places practically 
every question with reference to men and policies was 
considered, if not settled, in the light of its connection 
with LaFolletteism. As instinctively and unfailingly as 



124 I.aFoi.i.ii I i.'s WiNMvc or \Vrs( unsin 

water seeks its level tlnTf was a iiiriital lialaiii-in^' <»u 
this line of thought wheneviT any query eanit- up. If a 
man stopped at a postoffiee to mail a letter he was sus- 
])ected of conspiring? with the stalwart postmaster. If 
a new family came to town, its faetional politics was first 
looked up; if a school director or janitor were to be 
chosen; if a church considered the election of a new 
minister, the bogie of stalwart ism or the bufraboo of La- 
Folletteism was often first smoked out. All university 
elections from president down to golf caddies, it is said, 
were determined on this score ; women threw their shop- 
ping to their political kin and when it came to choosing 
a telephone the Madison stalwarts elected the Bell (the 
eor])oration service) Avhile the half-breeds chose the in- 
dependent line Avhich was controlleil by J. ('. llarpi-r. 
a LaFollette champion. 

Hut if LaFolletteisiii led to tragic divisions and es- 
trangeinents it also produced the comedy of queer com- 
binations of bed-fellows. As with socialism, the LaFol- 
lette cause enlisted the interest and support of the pro- 
foundest thinkers and the most sodden unthinking. At 
the various conferences and love feasts university experts 
of international renown ru])bed elbows and exchanged 
ideas with uneducated workuu-n. occasionally to mutual 
advantage, and in the common ecstacy at one victory a 
Catholic priest and a high Masonic dignitary actually em- 
braced one another in the executive chamber. Imagine 
such spectacle in any otiier land! said an observer. 
These were the rlisinterested jiatriots. JJut in addition 
to them and the great mass of the plain country and town 
folk wiio had no other concern than common justice and 
good government, nuiny Avere draAvn into the cam]) 
through ulterior motives. 

Here ami there a "sorehead" from the ranks of priv- 
ilege canu> over in order to get even witli Spooner or 
someone else oi" his fad inn, or to satisfy some jirivate 



InCIDKNTS in PmUlKKSS Ol- C.\MI'AI(;\ 425 

grudge, and as the cause waxed in strength, the office- 
seeker, the man on the lookout for the bandwagon, the 
professional patriot, came in with all the characteristic 
zeal and protestation of the sudden convert and too often 
made the governor inaccessible to the supporter of real 
worth and influence. 

* * * 

During this exciting period friends of the ;j;overnoi- 
now and then were apprehensive upon two points, that 
he might break down physically or that he might be 
made the victim of violence. Ilis physicians, his rela- 
tives and many of his friends importuned him not to 
overtax himself or take any undue risks of any other 
kind. Yet it availed little. And, as one of his friends 
said, had it not been that he possessed a constitution of 
Swedish steel and an unwearied, unwavering will he 
could not have borne up. lie seemed possessed of the 
endurance of two or three ordiiiary men although he was 
still dieting for a weak stomach. He frequently outwore 
one or two automobiles. One day's experience may give 
an idea of the ordeal to which he subjected himself. 

This typical strenuous day was one experienced in 
northern Wisconsin. It began with a 85-mile trip by 
train from Shawano to Wittenberg, at which latter place 
he spoke for an hour and a half in the early morning. 
Here he was to have been met by an automobile and taken 
to Mattoon, another distance of 35 miles, but the maehiix' 
having broken down he resolved to make the trip by 
team. Much of the road was new and was laid throufrli 
dense woods with an occasional long stretch of corduroy 
to bridge over wet places. A 35-mile drive under most 
comfortable circumstances is no small day's "work" for 
oi-dinary men, but it was only the beginning of the day's 
ordeal for the governor. After .speaking an hour at 
Mattoon he set out for Phlox Avhere he was to be at one 
o'clock but where he failed to arrive until <i. A bi^' 



426 LaFollette's Winning of Wisconsin 

crowd ui' farnier.s luul wailed all afternooii to see him 
and after a brief talk to them he set out in a surrey con- 
taining four people for a 12-mile drive to Polar which 
was reached in the record time of a little over one hour. 
After speaking nearly an hour here he set out in the same 
surrey, with fresh horses, for another 8-mile drive to 
Antigo. It was now pitch dark and having eaten scarcely 
nothing since morning the governor began to complain 
of a gnawing hunger. A basket lunch that had been 
prepared for him had gone astray somewhere. "I'm 
nearly famished, boys," he said, "I can't go on forever 
without something to eat." 

High upon a near-by hill a small light was seen blink- 
ing dimly in the inky blackness and the governor and 
C. 0. Marsh tumbled out and headed for it in quest of 
food. As they neared the house a large dog met them 
savagely and it w^as with much difficulty that they finally 
got into the house without being attacked by the brute. 
It proved the home of a German family. The farmer 
had attended the governor's meeting and had not yet 
gotten back, and his wife was unable to understand 
English. In response to a request for some bread and 
butter and sour milk she declared in her native tongue 
that she had nothing of the sort in the house. The gov- 
ernor's eye, however, caught sight of a loaf of rye bread 
on the table. 

"Can I have that?" he asked pointing to it. 

"Ja," replied the woman, not without some bewilder- 
ment at the prospective raid on her slender resources. 

Seizing the loaf the governor broke it across the middle 
and with his hands dug out the soft parts of the inside 
and laid them on the table, tucking the crusts under his 
arm. 

' ' Have you any eggs ? ' ' asked the governor. 

"Nein," said the woman, evidently not understanding 
him. 



Incidents in Pkogkess ok Cami'ak.x 427 

"Ja, Vir haben Zwei, Mutter," said one of the little 
girls of the family who understood Englisli, and held 
up two fingers. 

They were produced forthwith, and dashing a little 
salt and pepper on them the governor literally threw 
them down his throat raw. Then giving a quarter to 
each of the little girls he pulled down his crush hat, 
tucked the rye crusts under his arm and dashed out 
again into the darkness to beat another retreat from the 
dog to his carriage. 

Antigo was reached a little before 9:30. Here was 
gathered an audience of 1,400 people waiting patiently 
to hear him. Following a hasty bath and a change of 
underwear the governor then spoke for nearly three 
hours and was given an immense ovation. 

There was no time for food or rest following the 
speech, as he had determined to take the first train for 
Milwaukee. Those who had accompanied him on the 
nerve-racking ordeal of the day were completely ex- 
hausted and sought their beds to sleep for hours, but 
not so the governor. Reaching ^Milwaukee he sat up with 
friends in a conference there until time to take a train 
for Madison where he arrived the next forenoon. 

'tt was wWle on a similar trip in this vicinity that the 
governor, like the fugitive Alfred of old, also had ap- 
peared incognito at a farm house in Shawano county and 
begged a drink of milk and a bite to eat. A blooming 
daughter of the household waited on him and brought 
him a glass of rich, creamy milk. "Ah, that's fine," 
said the governor enthusiastically as he drained it off. 
"I am glad you like it," said the girl, "but I couldn't 
drink it if I was paid for it." 

"Indeed!" said the astonished governor, "and what 
do you do with it all? I see you have a lot of fine cows 
here?" 



428 I.aFoi.i.kii i;'s Wi.n.mm. ok Wisconsin 

■' Well," r(.'|)lii'{l the <_Mrl naively, "we give a <roo(l deal 
of it to calves." 

With regard to personal violence the apprehension 
was tiven greater, and many marvel to this day that he 
escaped unscathed. It need no longer remain a secret 
that many friends even feared possible assassinatif)n, so 
tense was the state of the public mind. Yet he seemed 
absolutely -without fear and to utterly disregard the 
muniiurs and warnings of friends. Personal violence 
against representatives of authority as a rule has come 
from the oppressed classes or individuals with fancied 
grievances, but as LaFollette appeared in tlir role of 
"friend of the under dog" there was perhaps small need 
of ajiprehension from this source, and the powerful 
classes against which he directed his attacks were 
cautious in their attitude toward him, knowing his habit 
of having every charge thoroughly fortified with proof 
before launching it. Said one of his friends: 

Tlie fact is he kept them on the defensive. In the vernacular, 
he always ' ' liad them on the jump. ' ' The lobbyists, attorneys 
and ])aid henchmen of the railroads and other corporations that 
fou<,rht him were in a perpetual nightmare guessing what he would 
do next. He was the momento mori of their feasts, a specter sure 
to arise and impossible to lay whenever two or three were met in 
privilege's name. As a rule he struck at some totally unexjiected 
place. 

Yet now and then a tense situation would arise. At a 
small place in Pierce count}' James A. Frear. who in- 
troduced LaFollette, asked a prominent citizen to shake 
hands with the governor, whereupon the man turned 
away with the remark that he 'Svould rather shake witii a 
yellow dog." A partisan of the administration promptly 
wliip])ed oil his coat to thrash the otVender, at which the 
governor sprang forward ami laid a restraining hand on 
his friend's arm and thus averted possible bloodshed. 

Governor LaFollette 's daring eharge that State Sen- 
ator 0. AV. Moslier. as jiresident of his eoinjiany, had re- 



Incidents in Pro(;i{esk of Cash 



12» 



ceived rebates of $90,000 from a railroad eompany, 
caused his friends to have some apprehension as to his 
safety when on his way to visit Senator Mosher's home 
city of New Richmond. It was intimated that he wonkl 
be met with violence if he renewed the charge there. 
LaFoIlette, hoM-ever, renewed the charge and instead of 
encountering a hostile demonstration, was met witli 
applause. It is interesting to note here that in the later 
campaign of 1910 Senator Mosher's successor in the sen- 
ate was one of two democrats who pledged themselves 
to support LaFoIlette for United States senator in the 
event of any danger of his defeat in the legislature by a 
reactionary. 

At many places the governor would be waited upon 
by leaders and delegations — friendly and hostile alike — 
who would take him aside and ask him to modify his ad- 
dress at their particular place so as to not unduly offend 
certain prominent citizens or interests of their town 
among whom his issues were not popular. Occasionally 
they would argue strenuously for their point, but as a 
rule the governor would reply: "I must make my 
speech in my own way whether it hurts anyone or not. 
I propose to hew to the line. This is no time for bou- 
quets or soft words. We are getting none." 

An interesting and typical meeting was that at Ells- 
worth in Pierce county. As was often the case elsewhere, 
the stalwarts had engaged the main hall in the city, not 
for a meeting but to prevent the governor from getting it. 
and had drilled their local workers to induce as many 
people as possible to keep away from the LaFolIettf 
meeting. A small hall was secured for the governor. 
Not only was it quickly filled, but the throng extended 
far into the street. Many crowded into the windows, 
stood up by the walls, or hung from clothes hooks through 
a long three hour speech filled with statistics, yet which 
they cheered throughout. The governor departed some- 



430 LaFollettk's Winning of Wisconsin 

what from his usual practice by here calling attention to 
the fact that he didn't have horns and referring to the 
tactics of the local stalwart leaders and to the newspaper 
abuse to which he was being subjected, 

"I don't mind it for myself," he said, ""but I have 
two boys and two girls whom I love as dearly as life 
itself, and I sometimes feel a regret that when I am gone 
they shall read in the files of the newspapers what was 
said of me. But my enemies cannot swerve me from my 
course nor make me quit this contest by abuse. Why, if 
I should die now you'd have to bury me standing up." 
( Tumultuous applause. ) 

How LaFollette was able to swing even hide-bound 
voters from the opposing party is recalled in a little inci- 
dent in Pierce county. Assemblyman A. H. Dalil was 
canvassing the county and suggested to his driver that 
they stop at the house of a certain democrat while pass- 
ing. The farmer was a quarter of a mile away in the 
fields. " It 's no use, ' ' said the driver, ' ' you 'd have your 
climb up that hill for nothing. He's rabid, and you 
couldn't do anything with him in a hundred years." 
Nevertheless Dahl went to see the farmer and was very 
pleasantly surprised to learn that he intended to go to 
the republican caucus and vote for LaFollette delegates. 
"Yes, sir; I heard him this morning," he said (LaFol- 
lette had spoken for half an hour at the schoolhouse at 
7 o'clock that morning) "and he's got the right ideas. 
I believe in backing him up." 

"Well," said the surprised driver when Dahl returned, 
' ' how did you do it ? We never could touch him before. ' ' 



CHAPTER XXX 

Rival Factions in the Field. 

Sharp Cajipaign Pressed uy Both Sides— LaFollette 
Adopts Automobile Plan of Travel— LaFollette and A. R. 
Hall Speak at Milwaukee— Cook Withdraws from Ticket 

AND SCOFIELD SUBSTITUTED — INCIDENTS OF FaST AND FURIOUS 

Finish. 

r ERTILE iu resources, LaFollette conceived the 
hitherto unusual idea of employing an automobile for 
campaign purposes. His experiences with special trains 
had been expensive and not altogetlier satisfactory. Be- 
sides the railroads were now making Avar on him and he 
was not disposed to ask any favors of them. Many timid 
and old-fashioned people feared for his safety or shook 
their heads in disapprobation at this departure, while 
the stalwarts sought to turn it to political account. "Be- 
hold this proof of insincerity," they cried; "here is the 
pretended champion of the poor and down-trodden using 
an automobile, the devil wagon, the toy of the rich! 
What inconsistency!" The idea was to attach to the 
governor by association the prejudice then existing in 
the rural mind against automobiles. It proved him at 
heart not in sympathy with the common people, "God's 
patient poor," they declared. Departing from his usual 
course, the governor once took occasion to notice these 
tactics. After setting forth the abuses that existed in 
the political and commercial life of the state, he said in 
his speech at Mazomanie : 

And that is wliy I am traveling about in this way, by train, by 
carriage, by automobile— any way to get there — to tell you and 
the people of the state of these things. I want to reach as many 
people, and as quickly, as I can, and if airships were available 
T 'd use them also. 



432 LAFoLLE'riK's Winning of Wisconsin 

Here, also, the governor talked intimately as to old 
neighbors, and among the notes taken down by a reporter 
who was present, but which were not published, were 
the following : 

If I didn't feci dee])ly uj)Oii tliis subject (his reform program) 
do you suj)j)Ose I would have devoted my life to it all these years, 
to have taken the heart out of my jirofession, and to have per- 
mitted my liealth to l)e broken down three times already? No, to 
this cause of taking the government out of the hands of a priv- 
ileged few and bringing it back to the people, I will give all 
there is in me until it is accomplished. It is not the salary of 
$5,000 a year I am after. When I went into this thing, I was 
already earning $10,000 a year and had more calls from all parts 
of the state to help other attorneys than I could possibly meet. 
I could have gone to Chicago any day as a corporation attorney 
for $15,000 a year, and I believe I could earn that aow, and 
more, if I chose. 

Now, our opponents m;iy tell you a different story, but the fact 
is tliat the salary I am now drawing is not enough to keep my 
family and myself going. You see I have to put a good deal 
into the game myself to keep up the cause, and we must order our 
living and conduct the business of the state in a dignified manner. 
Why, if I didu 't have a chance to go out every summer on the 
Chautauqua jdatform and earn $.3,000 we would be in debt $12,000 
at the end of four years. We try to live economically, but at 
that we have put by the chance to lay up anything for our chil- 
dren's future. We understand each other at home; we have 
talked it all out and are agreed. I wish to leave something to the 
.state more lasting than bronze or marble and a better legacy to 
my children than mere wealth. And I am not going to be swerved 
from my purpose; I have been called many names, but never a 
quitter. These great principles for which we are contending are 
eternally right and can 't be killed off. Neither do I propose to 
be. Why, if I should be defeated the eighth of next November, 
you will find me out early on tlic inoiiiiiig of the ninth on a new 
campaign. 

« # * 

The story of the acquisition of tliis machine, — the 
"Red Devil." ;is it was derisively called, — for the gov- 
ernor's use is an interesting one, but need not here be 
given. When the governor .set out with it September 1, 



Rival Factions in tiik Fiei.u 433 

he was accompanied by his two sous, his secretary, Col. 
John J. Ilannan, and a chauffeur. Several speeches were 
made that day, the first being at Dale at 8 o'clock in the 
morning, Hortonville, Shiocton and Appleton being the 
other places visited. Already on the first day out, said 
the Milwaulxee Sentinel, the governor had caused two 
runawaj'S and endangered the life of one woman going 
to market in the morning. But this method of travel 
proved most effective for the governor's cause. With 
a machine he could rapidly criss-cross a county on the 
eve of legislative caucuses and make many more speeches 
than if he depended on trains. 

There were many amusing sides to this method of cam- 
paigning. One day he drove overland from Mt. Iloreb 
to the Mazomanie meeting already referred to, nearly 
twenty miles, in a drizzling rain. He was late in arriv- 
ing and talked beyond his set time limit. In order that 
he might reach his next town as nearly as possible on 
time he had to forego a dinner the citizens of Mazomanie 
had arranged for him and when he k'ft town it was with 
a rubber hat pulled down over his head, a bottle of honey 
in one pocket of his dripping raincoat, the gift of a Mazo- 
manie woman, and a glass fruit can of milk in his hands. 

The governor's habit of carrying around milk bottles 
with him on his auto trips led to the brilliant idea by 
Dr. Fred Wilkins of Viroqua of attaching a rubber tube 
to a bottle so that the governor could drink with less 
danger. The governor laughingly demurred at this gift. 
''But you will have your teeth knocked out some time 
on these rough roads, if you don't." said the insistent 
physician. The governor finally consented to accept this 
new device. "But don't you dare tell the newspapers 
about this," said he, "or it will be all off with me." 

Occasionally there would be several autos filled with 
friends and lieutenants in his party. Tf the governor's 
machine chanced to get clogged with mud. as not infn- 



434 LaFoij-kiik's Winning of \Vi.s<onsin 

(liiently happeucd, he would climb into another and };ii 
on, and this process Avould be repeated until he reached 
liis destination. In this way he arrived in the little town 
of Deerfield two hours behind time one dismal October 
day. The crowd was still waiting as he climbed stiffl\' 
out of his machine. 

The governor had put in one of his most strenuous 
days of campaigning. The party included Governor 
LaFollette, his private secretary, Colonel Ilannan, A. ^M. 
Stondall. candidate for state senator; John M. Nelson, 
and the two chauffeurs, L. F. Schoelkopf of Madison and 
William King of "Whitewater. A raw southwester was 
blowing and a fine rain fell most of the afternoon, with 
a "heavy and coarse article" at Marshall, as Colonel 
Hannan put it. 

A big crowd had gathered at Deerfield in the afternoon 
in anticipation of seeing the governor. Farmers' teams 
lined both sides of the streets, and the red-wristed to- 
bacco growers of the neighborhood tapped ffie slushy 
sidewalks with their toes and cracked jokes to w^hile away 
the time. Secretary A. T. Torge of the county commit- 
tee, tried by telephone to learn the whereabouts of the 
missing party. A brass band also tried to keep things 
lively. When it became apparent that the governor 
would be late, A. R. Denu of ]\Iadison, whom Mr. Torge 
took along for such an emergency, was asked to give a 
short talk. He spoke for an hour and a half on state 
issues, being warmly applauded when he closed. Still 
the farmers waited, although they complained of neg- 
lected chores. Finalh' at 5 o'clock the party came in. 
The governor wore a mackintosh shoulder cape over his 
overcoat, and a small flat hat, and the entire party was 
spattered with mud from head to foot. Grim and be- 
spattered as the governor looked, the people could not 
restrain a shout of laughter at the sight, whereat ho 
smiled. 



Rival Factions in the Pikld 435 



liini 



"That you, Bob?" said an admiivr, slappin«. 
familiarly on the shoulder. "It's me when you get 
through the mud," replied the bluff liero ungrammat- 
ically. 

The governor Avas intent on going straight on to 
Stoughton, and promised to come again to Deerficld. 
However, he was finally persuaded to go up to the hall 
and say "hello" to the people. The crowd swarmed in, 
packing the hall. In his spattered mackintosh he 
mounted the stage amid shouts and laughter at the un- 
usual spectacle. Pie apologized for the delay, told amus- 
ing incidents of it, regretted that he could not speak 
longer to his good Scandinavian friends and promised 
to come again to Deerfield. This with a season of hand- 
shaking satisfied the_ crowd. 

The governor was inclined to push on at once, but 
finally took a hasty supper with the other hotel boarders, 
then got into a double rig with Mr. Nelson and Mr. Torge 
and set out sixteen miles overland to Stonghton in the 
dark, the driver being "Jake" Robinson, a trusted Jehu 
of the village. In their hurry they carried away a travel- 
ing man's grip and he wired them to have his nightshirt 
for him at Delavan next day or there would be trouble. 

"Where's Colonel Hannan?" someone asked the gov- 
ernor. 

"Oh, we left him on top of a hill some miles back, 
waiting for his machine to catch up with him," said the 
governor. "He looked like the statue of the Colossus 
of Rhodes as he stood and sorrowfully watched us go by." 

A carriage was sent out and brought the portly mili- 
tary secretary of Wisconsin in at 7 o'clock. Then there 
was fun as he swaggered about and cracked jokes upon 
"the sacred soil of Dane county." 

"There may be other issues in this campaign," he 
said, peeling the mud off his hat. "but T think the para- 



436 L.\F()i,i.i;i-ri;s Wi.\.m.\(; ok \Vis(o.\sin 

mount issiic is how to fret an antoniobilc through on 
time." 

Another rig was sent out to bring in the stranded Mr. 
King. The auto was hitched to the back of the buggy 
and finally all were in Deerfield. 

Mr. Denu Avas sent on to fill the governor's date at 
Cambridge. Mr. Ilannan and Mr. Stondall came on to 
Madison by train, while the two chauffeurs remained in 
Deerfield over night and brought their machines back. 

At 4 o'clock next morning Colonel Ilannan took a train 
for Stoughton to join the governor in Jefferson county. 

"I tell you this business of campaigning ain't a downy 
bed of ease," he said. 

The governor's visit to Elkhorn, the seat of the strong 
stalwart county of Walworth, was made a notable occa- 
sion. AVhile one of the capitals of stalwartism, Elkhorn 
nevertheless had an enthusiastic little group of admin- 
istration supporters and these supporters determined to 
make his welcome specially cordial. They even succeeded 
in obtaining a i)romise to have the schools dismissed thai 
the children might see the governor and share in the 
general holiday. It was felt that their presence would 
add to the cordiality of the welcome to be given the dis- 
tinguished guest, so arrangements Avere made to dismiss 
them on the arrival of the governor's train. 

However, a report reached the school that the train 
was late and would not reach Elkhorn for some hours. 
If the purpose of the report was to prevent the children 
from joining in the welcome to the governor it succeeded 
well as the schools remained in session until noon. In 
the meantime the governor's train had come in on time. 

But the children were 7iot to be beaten out of their 
holiday. The teachers returned to the sehoolhouse in 
the afternoon, but not so the pupils, so school was de- 
clared off for the remainder of the day. "When the high 
school principal. Prof. Thomas J. Jones, later appeared 



Rival Factions in rm.: Field 437. 

at the political meeting he was escorted to a seat on the 
platform at the front to the great merriment of his 
pupils, who were already in the hall. 

At Neenah, October 27, was presented the interesting 
spectacle of two rival republican meetings, one ad- 
dressed by Governor LaFoUette, the otlier by M. G. Jef- 
fris, the stalwart spellbinder. The same day a similar 
spectacle was presented at Green Bay in a republican 
meeting addressed by LaFollette on one hand, and an- 
other addressed by Congressman Theodore Burton of 
Ohio, under the auspices of the national republican com- 
mittee, three brands of republicanism being thus ex- 
ploited in the valley of the Fox that day. The managers 
of the paper mills and other factories refused to close 
the shops and let the workmen hear the governor, but 
closed them for the Jeffris meeting. At this J. 11. Denn- 
hardt, a LaFollette supporter, organized a group of 
school children which cheered LaFollette at the Jeffris 
meeting. 

At Oconomowoc November 2, the governor took ad- 
vantage of the presence in the audience of one Adam 
Blanchard to say that his delegates had been bought 
away from him in the state convention of 1896 and that 
Blanchard was one of the men who was offered a bribe 
and refused it. At this statement Blanchard arose and 
said: "Every word of that is true, as there is a living 
God." 

Keenly appreciating its value as a political stroke on 
the eve of election the administration on October HI is- 
sued a statement that all state taxes of the coming year 
would be remitted. This was one of its practical replies 
to the stalwart charges of extravagance in state affairs. 
Attention was also called to the fact that the taxes of 
the previous year likewise had been remitted. In addi- 
tion the statement was made that the estimated increase 
in railwav taxation for the year 1905 would be $659,000. 



-438 LaFoi.i,i:itk's Wi.n.\i.\(! of Wisconsin 

Governor LaFollctte had also reeently ordered that suits 
be broujL'lit afjainst the railroads for unpaid back taxes 
of which Railroad Commissioner Thomas had reported 
the discovery. In order to counteract the effect of this 
stroke of the administration the stalwart press printed a 
story the following day that the state treasury was short 
by $235,000. To strike the balance of truth between 
such and other conflicting statements and claims were 
among the problems thus presented to the voter who felt 
an interest in them. 

In the closing week of the campaign LaFollette on 
three successive nights made five addresses in the city of 
Milwaukee, the last one in the Exposition building, — the 
scene of his first convention triumph, — before what was 
pronounced one of the largest political audiences ever 
assembled in the state. This last meeting had a unique 
interest from the fact that Albert R. Hall spoke from the 
same platform with the governor, opening the speech- 
making with a plea for LaFollette. It was perhaps the 
first and only time in which these two men, the pre- 
eminent leaders in the AVisconsin revolution, appeared 
together before an audience. In scarcely more than six 
months LaFollette was to stand beside the open casket 
of his resolute patriot friend and pronounce a eulogy 
upon him. It was in this ^Milwaukee speech that LaFol- 
lette "named the men" in connection with his charge of 
bribery at the convention of 1896. 

The same night a unique speech was made at Kenosha 
by Charles Quarles, brother of Senator Quarles, who citdl 
the "twenty sins of LaFollette," among which were 
named extravagance, money from book companies, game 
warden abuses, the Kompf entanglement, slandering of 
the state, debauching of the university, packing of the 
supreme court, Chautauqua lecturing, dictation, stealing 
of state conventions, etc., all formally set forth in legal 
impeachment phrase. In an address some daj'S befor'' 



Rival Factions in thk Fiixd 4a,t 

Congressman Cooper had referred to "the party of Lin- 
coln, Grant, McKinley and LaFollette." "Could there 
be a better anti-climax?" exclaimed Quarles. "Lincoln 
to LaFollette! Hyperion to a satyr! Lincoln, with 
malice toward none; with charity to all. LaFollette, 
with venom, vengeance and vituperation!" 

Governor LaFollette was scheduled to close this nerve- 
racking campaign with a speech to the university stu- 
dents and his townspeople at the nniversity gj-mnasium 
the Saturday night before election. Col. Hugh Lewis, a 
one-armed veteran and ardent partisan of the governor, 
was chosen to preside at the meeting. Realizing this 
would be a remarkable occasion, he arranged to have it 
marked with certain distinctive features, one of which 
was to seat on the platform with other "prominents" a 
half hundred old soldiers as a living refutation of the 
charge that the governor did not have the good will of 
the veterans. 

The governor was met at the station by Colonel Lewis 
and others, who found to their dismay that he was so 
hoarse that he could scarcely talk. They thought of the 
splendid audience that would await him and of the disap- 
pointment if he should not be able to speak. Rushing 
him to the executive residence, they spent about ton 
minutes flushing his throat and then set out for the gym 
nasium, already late for the meeting and where they 
found a constantly growing crowd that filled the great 
hall to the doors. "^ Again they thought of that lost voicr. 

But again was the governor to prove a surprise. In 
the presence of his splendid, inspiring and sympathetic 
audience his hoarseness soon disappeared and he spoke 
with remarkable power for two and three-(iuarters hours. 
"Dangerous." said Colonel Lewis, shaking his gray head 
afterward. "I wish he Avouldn't take such chances on 
killing himself. One hour would have been enough." 

No "one who heard that speech is apt to soon forget it. 
Tlnfortunatelv no stenographic report of it has come 



440 LaFoi.i,i;i ri;'s Wi.n.m.nc. ur Wisconsin 

down. Even the Milivaiikee Free Preas carried only a 
scant notice of it. One of its striking features was the 
governor's merciless arraignment of great oil monop- 
olies for their gross violations of law and morals. 

Not often does LaFoIlette abandon the careful phrase 
and familiar climax, but on this occasion he seemed fired 
by some higher inspiration — the spontaneous eloquence 
of righteous passion — as he depicted the onward progress 
of one such commercial monster — not alone in its larger 
public sins of demanding rebates, of seizing railroads or 
compelling them to conspire with it, of ruthlessly grab- 
bing the coal and oil fields of Pennsylvania, of wrecking 
towns to build up others and destroying rivals to seize 
their business ; but, moi'e reprehensible still, how step by 
step it had stalked over the oil fields of Ohio and Indiana, 
crushing out the small independent refiners, evicting 
from their lands farmers too poor to fight for their prop- 
erty, driving out widows and orphans whose only sin was 
living in their own homes and within the law. and leav- 
ing- in its wake a trail of poverty', insanity and suicide — 
all this he poured forth in a towering climacteric of pas- 
sion that swept his responsive audience up to inspired 
heights. 

It was an indictment such as in olden time would have 
sent a Roman audience out sword in hand, and an Athe- 
nian to cry, "Let us go against Philip !' ' Not here had 
any apologist dared suggest the defense always urged, 
that such practices had at least cheapened the price of 
the product. 

"What shall we do?" asked the editor of the State 
Journal distractedly of Judge Keyes the Monda\' morn- 
ing following. "It was a speech that made votes; it 
made votes!" 

On the .same evening Senator Spooner addressed a 
great audience in Milwaukee. In spite of the supreme 
court's decision that the LaFoIlette ticket was entitled 



Ki\ \i Fa( Tioxs IN iiu; FiKiii 441 

to the place of regularity ou the official bill lot. he pref- 
aced his speech with the declaration, "I represent here 
tonight what is called the opera house platform, made by 
the only legal convention held by the republican party in 
Wisconsin this year." Continuing the war on LaFol- 
lette to the end, he subjected tlie governor through a 
three-hour speech to a merciless arraignment for usurpa- 
tion, tyranny and fraud. 

In the audience were several squads of young LaFol- 
lette men who repeatedly applauded the speaker's men- 
tion of the governor's name, whereupon the senator 
finally forestalled them by substituting the name 
"Smith" for that of "LaFoll'ette." 

The speaker roundly denounced the governor's rail- 
road commission bill. "That bill, if passed into a law," 
he said, ' * would close more factories and bring more dis- 
aster than any other measure ever devised. Now what is 
the condition? We had a rate commission in 1874, and 
after it had been tested in the courts the legislature re- 
pealed it because it touched injuriously almost every 
hamlet in the state. It took the elasticity out of rates 
w^hich enables the railroads to adapt their rates to the 
needs of their different localities. * * * This bill 
puts the business of the state on a mileage basis; that the 
railroads shall not charge more for a longer than a 
shorter haul unless this commission says it may. That 
means to rob every comjjetitive point in this state of 
competition. What a power to put into the hands of a 
commission appointed by Governor— Smith!" 

In closing this remarkable speech the senator said: 

"Now, in conclusion, this man LaFollette informs us 
that if we beat liim on November 8 on November 9 he 
commences again. In olden times they used to think 
that a suicide walked and consequently they buried a 
suicide where four roads met and drove a stake througli 
him to keep him down. Now, I tell you what we are 
c'oint' to do Tuesday. We will drive through LaFollette 



442 LaFollkttk's Winning ok Wisconsin 

such a stake in the shape of such an enormous plurality 
that even his jjhnst will spp that it is vain to try to walk 
again. ' ' 

Also, on the same evoniiijr, Senator J. V. Quarles in a 
speech at Fond du Lac, said : 

"How Ion*; can the party last under such leadership 
as this? LaFollette has debauched the legislature and 
even tried to eh'ct the next le<rislature. If the kinp: of 
England tried such a thing the people Avould take off his 
head. If the president tried it he would be impeached." 

Such were the respects paid the governor of their own 
state by two United States senators of professedly the 
same political faitli as his and on the very eve of an 
election. 



CHAPTER XXXI 

A Fateful Election. 

Intense Interest Taken in Outcome of Campaign— National 
Issues Forgotten— Stalwarts Throw Support to Peck— La- 
Follette Ee-elected— Keceives Flood or Coxuuatulations— 
Significance of Election — LaFollette 's Long Contest 
Finally Won. 

1 HE factional rivalry toward llie close of the campaign 
was so fast and furious that the people of Wisconsin 
practically lost sight of the fact that a national election 
was impending. Kealizing the hopelessness of defeating 
LaFollette through the Scofield ticket, the stalwart press 
and leaders openly urged the support of the democratic 
state ticket. Enormous quantities of sample ballots were 
sent throughout the state with a cross marked in the 
circle at the head of the republican ticket, but with lines 
drawn through the republican state and legislative tick- 
ets, and crosses after the corresponding democratic 
names, thus indicating to the voter how he could vote 
the republican national ticket and at the same time help 
defeat the republican state candidates. The natioiuU 
republican (Scofield) state ticket was ignored. 

At a big stalwart meeting in Milwaukee addressed by 
Senator Spooner the Saturday night before election a 
feature of the opening Avas a song by a local lawyer run- 
ning in part as follows: 

And when you've done your duty and ■LaFollette 's vote.l out, 
We'll raise a great hosannah and a grand triumphal shout; 
And your sons and your great-grandsons will comnicniorate the day 
Wlien you regained your freedom from the petty tyrant's sway. 
So forward into battle, and his despotism check, 
With one big vote for Roosevelt and a great big vote for Peck. 

Also the Milwaukee Sentinel said on November 1 : 
The onlv way to unseat this autocrat is to defeat him at the polls 
next Tuesday. In order to do this it may be necessary for the 



444 LAFol.l.Kl^^;'^s Wi.nnj.nx. ok W isi o.nsi.n 

republicans to make sacrifices. But it must be remembered that 
the defeat of Disturber LaFoUette is the paramount issue in this 
campaign. 

And on tlic ilay before election the :Siuti)ul printed 
two full pages of newspaper clippings calling for the de- 
feat of LaPollette. 

Indeed Secretary Bentley, of the stalwart state central 
committee, said, on the day after election : 

The so-oalleil stalwarts to a man supjiorted the national repub- 
lican ticket, while with almost equal unanimity they supported 
Governor Peck, and find no reason for conecaliug the fact. 

The outcome of the election was awaited with the 
greatest interest throughout the country and with the 
keenest an.Kiety by many of the governor's friends. The 
metropolitan papers began issuing extras as soon as the 
returns began coming in, for every point had its angle 
of interest in the contest. It soon became evident that 
LaPollette had been re-elected and hundreds of tele- 
grams of congratulation poured in upon him. As indi- 
cating the wide range and warmth of interest taken in 
the outcome, a few of these felicitations may be repro- 
duced : 

St. Paul — Hearty congratulations over your splendid victory 
against such tremendous odds. Greetings to all. — S. R. Van Sant. 
(Governor of Minnesota.) 

Chicago — Both Mrs. Yates antl I are gratified beyond mensuro 
by your victory. — Richard Yates. (Governor of Illinois.) 

Des Moines — I congratulate you most heartily. — A. B. Cummins. 
. (Governor of Iowa.) 

Cheyenne, Wyo. — Wisconsin ami tlie entire c6antry are to be 
congratulated on your election. Your fight for right on behalf 
of the i)cople is a spleiuiiil examjile to young men. It gives con- 
fidence in the ultimate triumph of honesty. — Fennimore Chattcrton. 

Chicago — I rejoice in your victory. Sorry T was not a resident 
of Wisconsin yesterday. — Charles H. Avery. 

Atlantic City, N. J. — You have won the great victory. Accept 
my congratulations. — W. M. Riddle. (Mr. Riddle was a con- 
tributor to LaFollette 's camjjaign fund and has a framed ac- 
knowledgment hanging in his lil)rary.) 



A Fatkhi. Elkition 44r) 

Boston — Hearty cou^'ratulations. Ilojie you may reap full fruit"* 
of victory. — Reed of Taunton. 

Denver — I congratulate you upon your splendid victory. — J. C. 
Roberts. 

Reinbeck, la. — Congratulations. Interest in your behalf in 
Cedar Eapids and state was intense. — G. A. Newall. 

New York — Please accept my hearty, hearty, hearty congratula- 
tions. — "Wilbur F. Wakcman. 

Norfolk, Va. — Congratulate yourself and peojilc of Wisconsin 
on your election. — C. M. Seeker. 

Oconto, Wis. — Le jour de gloire est arrive. — O. F. Trudell. 
Ft. Atkinson, Wis. — "Why did the heathen rage and imagine 
vain things?" The house of Hoard, children and grandchildren, 
join in a heartfelt shout of gratulation over your great justifica- 
tion by the people. — W. D. Hoard. 

Chicago — I heartily congratulate you upon your splendid victory. 
— John Anderson, publisher " Skandiuavou. " 

Yankton, S. D. — Our heartiest congratulations and good wishes. 
All at hospital join in this. — L. C. Mead. 

Portland, Ore. — ^Another great victory. Accept my congratula- 
tions. — Jay S. Hamilton. 

Brodhead, Wis. — Praise the Lord, oji. my soul.— Mrs. Burr 
Sprague. 

Louisville, Ky. — Everyone who lieard you at Vincennes will re- 
joice in the triumph of representative government in Wisconsin, 
which I trust will {irove a splendid object lesson for the rest of 
the states of the union. — J. 0. Pace. 

St. Louis — Hearty congratulations on your election.— Knute 
Teman. 

Philadeliihia— Hearty .ougriitulatioiis. (ilninis tlu.u art an. I 
shalt be king hereafter.— J. J. Collins. 

Former Governor George W. Peck, the democratic candidate for 
governor, sent the following: 

Milwaukee— Returns seem to show that you are elected and I 
congratulate vou and send the best wishes of myself and family 
to you and your family. You have made a brave fight and des.-rvo 
to be happy and I wish you may be. 

Green Bay— Fearless fight unprecedented in history. Victory 
crowns your" efforts. Governor, you have my sincerest congratula- 
tions. Brown county by 1,400.— Fred W^arren. 

Chicago— To quote the Tribune. "This is a proud -lay for Wis- 
consin." Glamis thou art and Cawdor shalt be.— .1. VV- Hmer. 

Duluth-Among the good things of yesterday nothing ploa.c. 
me more then your election.— Fred A. Teall. 



446 LaFollktie's Wi.nm.ng ok Wisro.NsiN 

Saciaineiito — Congratulations on your re-election aud latitiL-a- 
tion of the primary law. — Frank F. Atkinson. 

Kearney, Neb. — xVccept my congratulations upon your re-elec- 
tion as governor. — W. H. H. Kichardson. 

New York — Hearty congratulations and good wishes. Four 
years from today hope to congratulate you on your presidential 
election. — Richard Lloyd Jones. 

Sioux Falls, S. D. — Accept my hearty congratulations. The 
right shall prevail. — Ray WiUiams. 

New York — Hearty congratulations. — J. C. Garrison. 

On the official count LaFollette had a plurality of 
50,952. The vote was: LaFollette, republican, 227,- 
253; Peck, democrat, 176,301; Arnold, social democrat, 
24,857 ; Scofield, national republican, 12,136 ; Clark, pro- 
hibitionist, 8,764 ; Minkley, social labor, 249 ; total, 449,- 
560. 



On the night of election the rooms in the executive 
office wore jammed with a surging, exultant crowd which 
had gathered lo hear the results of the election and to ex- 
tend felicitations to the governor upon the great victor}-. 
Men of all classes met and jostled one another, officials, 
laborers, professors, farmers. They sprawled over the ta- 
bles and chairs, all shaking hands, slapping one another 

familiarly and passing the latest news. " county 

goes for LaFollette!" shouts the man at the telephone, 
waving impatiently to the noisy crowd that he may get 
more of the message. But it is to no avail ; in the 
vernacular, it is "all off." A hundred hats fly to the 
ceiling and a shout that seems to shake the building goes 
up at the news that some rock-ribbed citadel of .stalwart- 
ism has boon finally taken. One after anotlior such re- 
ports come in and the crowd becomes moro and more 
demonstrative. 

In a small inner office the governor is seated. A chair 
has been set upon a low broad box in one corner and he 
has been crowded into it. Abont him are his chief lieu- 
ten;lnts. The venerable, imperturbable General Bryant, 



A Fateful Ei.kction 

SENATE DISTRICT MAP OF WISCONSIN 

Apportionment 1901. 



447 



Regular Session. 



Showing population of the State 

by Counties — Census of 1900 

Total ropulation 2.0fi9.042 




POPULATION OF SENATORIAL 

DISTRICTS. 

(DIsts. 4, 5, 6, 7, S, Milwaukee 

County.) 

Pop. 



2d " ; . ; . 


67.233 


3d '• 

9th " 

10th " .... 


07,3.-.l 

61,487 

50 773 


llth " .... 


61.614 


12th " 

13th ■• 

14th 


64,or,o 

4 0.<;:u 

73.722 


15th " 

10th " 


.51) 33!) 

. . .56 167 


17tli •• .... 


66,792 


18th " 

19th " 

20th " 


63,386 

58,225 

66,708 



21st 
22d 
23d 
24th 

25 th 

26 th 

27 th 
2Sth 
29th 
30th 
31st 
32d 
33.1 



4 th 

5 th 
6th 

7th 
8 th 



« ~ 01 


098 


51 


vns 


04. 04^ 

64.729 


69 


104 


69,435 

64.127 


47 


834 


73 

53 

" 60 

(!6 


3911 
,S3 5 
11.. S 
11 1 


58 818 


MILWAUKEE CO. OISTS. 

01 

09 


035 
IIMt 


71 


771 


o:i 


533 


. .04,48:; 



Election 1904, dark counties carri--«I by Peck 



448 LaFoi.i.kttk'^ \V'i.\.\i.\«, ok Wisconsin 

his political godfather, sits at his feet; Chyiioweth, his 
undaunted, immovable legal adviser and heavy hitter, is 
there; Roe, iiis former law partner; Crawford Harper, 
Bryan Castle, Charles E. Buell, "Al" Rogers, his alert, 
tactful man Friday ; Torge and Ed Shatter, who have 
ridden through miles of mud to get out the rural vote; 
George Post, Tom Nelson, Gratz, Ed Gibbs. Ernest War- 
ner, great ward workers; beardless students, keenly alive, 
who have fought the good fight for him all day '"on the 
hill;" farmers who have come through miles of fog and 
rain to tell of their battles for the right ; democrats who 
have been borne over to him in the enthusiasm of the 
conflict — these with scores of others crowd about. And 
above them all. like a king upon his throne, sits the hero 
of the hour, his strong intellectual face literally glowing 
with enthusiasm and animation, infectious, unforgetable, 
dispatching orders to couriers liere, receiving messages 
there, and shaking hands right and left. 

"The governor is wanted at the telephone!" shouts 
Tom Purtell; "no one else will do!" A German farmer 
is at the other end of the line, a resident of one of the 
hitherto always democratic German townships in the 
northern part of the county; a man who through a gen- 
eration has borne contumely and ostracism because of 
his republican convictions, but who has always come uji 
smiling and unwearied at every fight, and who has been 
unflagging in his advocacy of the governor's reforms. 
His hour of triumph has come at last. He tells the gov- 
ernor that he has carried his town for him. "Good for 
you. Matt!" shouts the governor in reply; "I cannot 
thank you enough for Avhat you have always done for 
me. Tell the boys I appreciate deeply their good work." 

Hut the old farmer could not catch the governor's mes- 
sage. His voice came u]) dimly from ihe f.ir countryside. 
"I don't can hear you I" 

"Tell the boys," said the governor more IoikIIv, "tliat 
T appreciate deeply their good work." 



A Fatkful Ei.EiTiON 44 ;• 

Still the old man could not hear and the {governor re- 
peated his message more slowly and in his best voice; 
but all to no avail. Yet another attempt failed. 

"Veil." shouted the governor, as a happy thought 
seized him, ' ' tell de poys dey done tarn veil ! ' ' 

"All right, Pob," came the foggy reply. 

This historic scene was the last of quite its kind that 
the old executive office witnessed and its counterpart in 
interest and unusual features has scarcely been approxi- 
mated in the state 's history. When a few men now sit 
around a table, as is the rule, and quietly receive and 
compare election returns the old-timers present who wit- 
nessed and remember that other scene are prone to ob- 
serve in wistful reminiscence, "Those were the davs!" 



With the election of 1904 LaFollette's great fight was 
finally and decisively won, and its story, in so far as it 
deals with stratagem and battle, may here fittingly close. 
The legislature chosen at the same election was ultimately 
to write all the demands of the party upon the statute 
books and thus clear the way for the goverTior's entrance 
again upon the larger national field. As indicated in the 
flood of felicitations that poured in upon the governor, 
the victory Avas of profound national import. One dis- 
tant metropolitan daily pronotniced it of iiuich grealr-r 
significance than the re-election of President Roosev<-It. 

In the recent general uprising of American democracy 
for a larger and freer life and to vindicate the justice 
and wisdom of its establishment, the first and most bril- 
liant victory, considering the obstacles encountered, was 
achieved in Wisconsin. The splendid conclusion of tlic 
ten-year "holy war" everywhere gave cheer to believers 
in democracy and the psychological effect of the first 
ringing note of victory upon the expectant ear of the 
nation was profound. A great state had givcTi a new 

20 



450 LaFoi.i.im ik's VVin.mx. or Wjhio.vsiN 

significance to its motto of "Forward" and pointed the 
way for other confused and irresolute commonwealths. 

A golden age in point of creative achievement, such 
as often accompanies great political convulsions, has fol- 
lowed, not without its crudities and abuses and wrongs, 
but these must be ever incidental to progress and the re- 
adjustment of standards. When history in time shall 
have stripped away details and ephemeral elements the 
constructive achievements of this period of state rebuild- 
ing will stand out in clearer relief and tiieir worth an<l 
value be more justly judged. 

While the antagonisms and animosities engendered by 
the LaFollette agitations have in many instances been 
unfortunate thej' must be regarded as weighing but 
lightly when cast in the balance with the larger general 
good resulting from them. The issues waged have proved 
irritating and unsettling to the political mind, but if 
democracy is to endure society must be kept fluid to pre- 
vent crystallization into classes and castes, and oc- 
casional upheavals such as these are but manifestations 
of a virile state of the body politic, a sign that beneath 
its exterior live hopeful potentialities that make for 
freedom and progress. The Wisconsin revolution was 
in its field but a phase of the world-old phenomenon. 
Ever have been and ever will be found in human evolu- 
tion two contending elements — reformers, restless, fore- 
visioned. impatiently thundei-ing for progress, and 
those who see only ruin in their ])r()j('('ts or at least 
are not yet ready to advance. Today one may be in 
the ascendancy, tomorrow the other. 

With peoples, nations and parties, as with individuals, 
periods of activity, exertion, achievement, are often fol- 
lowed by like periods of repose, often of retrogression. 
Believers in dcmocracj' and the progressive advancement 
of society will, however, continue to look eastward. Prog- 
ress and reaction niav alternate, movements and civil- 



A Fateful Election 451 

izations run their courses and die, yet each succeeding 
century, building on the old, gains something of value 
from its predecessor, not always apparent yet none the 
less real. 

Although 'tis weary watching wave by wave, 

Yet the tide moves onward; 
We build like corals grave by grave, 

That pave a pathway sun-ward. 
We are driven backward from the fray, 

A newer strength to borrow. 
And where the vanguard camps today 
The rear will camp tomorrow. 

In the flowering of their genius for democracy the 
people of the state have found a new freedom, dignity 
and securitA^ whose happy promise lies like a shaft of 
light across the land. The safeguarding and nurturing 
of the fruits of the victory achieved must depend upon 
the vigilance of the people of a great commonwealth, the 
inexorable price of the receding but ever fairer ideal of 
liberty. Rights and liberties must be exercised to be 
preserved, for it is in the history of most righteous re- 
forms that those who have most strongly opposed them 
have come to profess to accept and defend them, once 
they are established, and in the consequent suspension 
or cessation of strife, openly or insidiously to seize upon 
the new machinery to serve new selfish ends. Thus the 
victories won, often at great sacrifice, for humanity and 
progress, may eventually prove to have been largely in 
vain. 

It is an endless battle to be free; 

As the old dangers lessen from the skies 

New perils arise; 

Down the long centuries eternally, 

Again, again will rise Thermopylae — 

Again, again a new Leonidas. 

New Lexington on Lexington will rise, 

And many a valorous Warren fall 

Upon the imperilled wall. 

Man is the cou.st'ript of an endless quest, 

A long divine adventure without rest. 



APPENDIX 
LaFollette Pioneer in Conservation Movement. 
Message Sent by Goveknor LaFollette to Wisconsin Leqis- 

LATUKE IN SpKINU OK 190.J — OnE OF FlKST NoTES IN CONSEKVATION 

Movement, Preceding i!Y Some Yeaks the Action Taken by 
PuEsroENT Roosevelt. 

In the legislative session of lUUl bills for eighteen 
dams on the Wolf river were introduced, backed prin- 
cipally by Assemblyman D. E. Riordan of Eagle River. 
These measures would have given practical control of the 
whole river to the owners of the dams, and when the 
assembly chairman having the measures in hand laid the 
situation before Governor LaFollette the latter promptly 
urged the killing of the scheme. It was this incident 
rind others of similar character that lerl to the jiK'ssasrt* 
given below : 

EXECUTIVE COMMUNICATION 

State of Wisconsin, 
Executive Chamt)er, 
Madison, April 12, 19<).3. 
To the Honorable, the Legislature: 

Five hundred and sixteen laws granting franchises to dam 
navigable streams within this state have been passed since the 
organization of the territory of Wisconsin. Formerly many of 
these grants were for logging ]>urposcs. The great reiluction in 
lumboring witliin the last few years has considerably decreased 
the number of gr:ints made in aid of logging and Intiibcring. Not 
withstanding tins f.ict, the demand for franchises to build dams 
across the navigable streams of the state, seems to be increasing. 
It is therefore, clearly manifest that capital has awakened to the 
opportunities which these waterpowers offer for permanent invest- 
ment. It is certainly desirable that this should be encouraged in 
every proper way. 

It has, heretofore, been tlic poliiv of the state to gr;int to .-my 
party seeking the same, the right to build dams across navigable 
stn-anis anvwIuTc within tlic limits of the commonwealth. Pro- 



Appendix 4(t 

vided that its action does not conflict with the action of congress 
upon the same subject, the state has the undoubted autliority to 
determine where and under what conditions dams may be con- 
structed across its navigable waters. The only conditions which 
it has attached to grants of this character up to tlie present time, 
are the riglit to amend or repeal the same, and the ro(|uirement 
that fishways shall be maintained in all dams. It is tlie law that 
the structure must improve the navigation of tlie stream. When- 
ever those applying for these franchises have sought the authority, 
the legislature has freely conferred upon them the right to condemn 
and take the lands of others, aiul overflow the same, )jy |iroviding 
effective statutory proceedings to that end. 

Probably not more than half a dozen states in the union are 
so abundantly supplied with natural waterjiower as "Wisconsin and 
no state in the middle west is comparable to it in this respect. 
More than one thousand lakes, widely distributed within its borders, 
form natural reservoirs, furnisliiug sources of supply to the streams 
which flow through every section of the state. 

We have recently undertaken, at considerable expense, the estab- 
lishment of a forestry commission with a view of preserving what- 
ever remains of the forests upon state lands not suited to agricul- 
ture, and the re-foresting of those, and such other lauds as can 
most profitably be used for that })urpose. The state forestry 
legislation, adopted two years ago, very defective in many respects, 
will, it is hoped, be so amended as to establish this important work 
upon a permanent and efficient basis. It is referred to in this 
connection because the preservation of our forests and the re- 
foresting of lands about the sources and along the head waters of 
our principal streams, are absolutely essential to the jjreservation 
of Wisconsin "s splendid waterpowers. The restoration of our 
forests, and the preservation of our wateri)Ovvers go hand in hand. 
It therefore behooves the legislature to exercise the utmost caution 
in granting franchises to dam streams and flood lands, lest legis- 
lation for the protection of forests and streams be not undone in 
flooding state lands and destroying tree-growth, just where, for 
every reason, it should be protected. 

In the early life of states and municipalities franchises are fi'eely 
granted for "the building of ferries an<I bridges, turnpikes, rail- 
roads, and street railways. Liberal donations of moneys and lands 
are frequently bestowed upon those receiving the franchises. Eager 
to secure rap'id development, little thought is taken for the future. 
and no consideration given to tlie proper restrictions or limitation!* 
to be imposed upon those who ore the beneficiaries of these valuable 
public grants. 



454 LAFoLr.KiTK's Winmnc; of \\'is(().\sin 

Our navigable streams and rivors, like our streets and hlgiiways, 
are open to the free use of the yiPO[)le of the state. . No one ran 
acquire ownorship in these waters. If the public through legisla- 
tion, grants franchises, surrendering the use of any of its navigable 
waters to individuals or corporations, it is entitled to a reasonable 
consideration therefor. This it may not choose to take as a money 
consideration, but the state cannot do less than recognize the 
rights of the public, in making reasonable reservations at the time 
it confers the grants. The franchises so taken in many cases, 
grant rights of great and rapidly increasing value. The vast 
amount of power which these waters produce is a resource of a 
j.ublic nature, in the advantage and benefit of which the public 
should ])articipate. 

Modern industrial development is making rapid progress. Al- 
ready these waterpowers are extensively employed to generate 
electricity. The transmission of this power over considerable dis- 
tances is successfully accomplished with little loss. It will, in the 
near future, be more widely distributed at a constantly diminishing 
cost. In manufacturing, in electric lighting in cities and towns 
and in the country, in operating street and interurban cars for 
the transportation of passengers and freight, and in furnishing 
motive power for the factory and the farm, electricity will eventu- 
aJly become of great importance in the industrial life of our com- 
monwealth. 

It is, therefore, quite apparent that these waterpowers are no 
longer to be regarded simply as of local importance. They are 
of industrial and commercial interest to every community in the 
state. Whether it be located in the inmiediate neighborhood of a 
waterpowcr will, in time, make little or no difference. While this 
is becoming more manifest year by year, it is probably true that 
we do not, as yet, approximately estimate the ultimate value of 
these waterpowers to the jicople of Wisconsin. 

It miLst, therefore, be apparent that this subject, broadly con- 
sidered, is of profound interest to the people of this commonwealth. 
If the policy of the state with respect to these franchises ought 
to be changed at all, it certainly ought to be changed now. Re- 
serving the right to amend or repeal is" not enough. When rich and 
powerful companies, availing themselves of these grants, acting in 
concert, seek to resist aintMidinent or repeal, their intluence will 
jirove a very serious obstacle. Economic conditions are rapidly 
changing in this state and in the country. A legislative policy 
which grants franchises without substantial conditions amply pro- 
tecting the public, and securing to it reasonable benefits in return, 
is neither right nor just, and ought no longer to 1>(> tolerated. The 



AppKNDix 465 

capital already invested, industries already established, may in a 
few years tind themselves quite at the mercy of power companies 
in combined control of the waterpower of the state. 

Such investigations as I have been alile to make of the subject 
plainly indicate that many of the grants to construct dams hereto- 
fore passed by the legislature, have been secured jnirely for specu- 
lative purposes. In such cases no improvements whatever have 
been made. The grants have been held awaiting opportunities 
to sell the same with large profit to the holders, who have not 
invested a dollar for the benefit of the state, or its industrial de- 
velopment. It is obvious that those franchises may be gathered 
up, and consolidated with others which have been granted where 
improvements have been made, and prices advanced until tlie state, 
municipalities, and the public will be compelled to pay an exor- 
bitant rate for the power upon which we are likely to grow more 
' and more dependent as time passes. 

It is submitted to your honorable body that the time has come 
to give this subject the careful consideration which its great im- 
portance demands. I believe that the state should encourage the 
development of its natural resources, including its waterpower 
system, in so far as it may properly do so ; but the obligation rests 
upon those charged with the responsibility and clothed with author- 
ity, to encourage this development under such conditions as will 
justly and fairly protect the public rights in these great natural 
advantages. 

I therefore recommend that in all grants of this character here- 
after made, it shall be provided: 

First. That failure to exercise the rights granted under the 
franchise within a period of two years shall operate as a forfeiture 
of the same. 

Second. That whenever the jiower acquired under and by virtue 
of the franchise shall be operated, or its operation suspended, 
pursuant to any contract, agreement, or understanding, express or 
implied, in violation of any law of the state, or of the federal gov- 
ernment, the franchise shall be forfeited forthwith. 

Third. That whenever power acquired under and by virtue of 
the franchise shall be offered for sale that some reasonable pro- 
vision shall be made for the protection of the state, of municipal- 
ities, of corporations and individuals in the purchase of such power 
at reasonable rates therefor. 

Fourth. That the franchise so granted shall be subject to taxa- 
tion by the state through its tax commission or state board of 
assessment. 

I further recommend the passage of a general law repealing all 



456 L.\?\)r.i.KnK's Winxim; ok Wisconsin 

such franchises grantoil jirior to January 1, 1903, where the dams 
hare not been built jairsuant to the grant; and that the further 
provisions, hereinbefore reeonunended, for all grants hereafter to 
be made, be incorporated in sut-h general act and adopted as amend- 
ments to all grants of like character heretofore made, in so far as 
api)licable. 

The United States geological survey has for two years been 
engaged in an investigation of the waterpowers of Wisconsin. 
This work determines the location and rating in horsej)Ower of each 
of the dams upon the principal rivers of the state. I am advised 
that it would be possible for the state to secure at this time the 
substantial results of this investigation. I believe that the legisla- 
ture should authorize the employment of a civil engineer by the 
state, to complete the work, covering all the streams upon which 
grants have been made for the erection of dams, locating the same, 
and reporting whether the improvements have been made and 
maintained, or whether the same have not been improved, the 
character of the waterpower, wliere one exists, and its approximate 
horsepower rating, the use made of the same, and the names of 
its present owners. Such investigation should also include data 
as to the location, and the approximate horsepower rating of un- 
develoj)ed waterpowers upon all of the streams of the state. These 
facts, when ascertaiiu'd, should be reported to the next legislature 
in a form which should enable it to act intelligently in granting 
franchises in the future. If the state avails itself of the work 
already done in this direction by the federal government, it can 
bo completed in a few months, at a cost of not to exceed one 
thousand dollars. Respectfully submitted, 

Robert M. LaFollettb, 

Governor. 



PIONEER PROGKESRIVES !X WISCONSIN 

The folloAving names of local pioneer leaders in the 
LaFollette reform movement have been furnished for 
each county by one or more of tlie prominent workers 
mentioned. The names are such as occurred to the cor- 
respondents as amoufj: those who were earh' active in the 
reform movement. ^Vlany more mi{;ht, of course, be 
added of men entitled to credit in ndvanciiis:: the cause 
in their respective localities: 



Appendix 457 

Adams County-^ ohn P. I^ewis, G. \Y. Biugham. C. 
H. Gilman, P'riendship ; John A. Henry, Easton. 

Ashland County— F. C. Smith, J. A. Cobb, B. O. 
Olson, Pearce Tompkins, George McLeod, John Sand- 
strom, John Cannovan, Lewis Anderson, Robert Parsons, 
Charles McGully, Peter Hanson, James Good, William 
Nohl, J. K. Parish, Andrew Peterson, N. P. Anderson, 
Charles Bloss, 0. H. Berg, A. W. Sanborn, Ashland ; J. 
G. Stoltz, Glidden ; Charles Kleinsteiber, P.utternut. 

Barron County— Henry S. Comstock, Samuel Palmer, 
T. M. Purtell, Cnmberland ; Clarence C. Coe, Barron; 
Andrew G. Strand, 0. H. Ingram, W. W. Dietz, Rice 
Lake; J. M. Rossbach, George E. Scott, L. J. Breeu, 
Prairie Farm; 0. H. Gulickson, Cameron; John H, 
Johnson, Maple Grove ; William Simpson, Canton. 

Bayfield County — William O'Neill, L. N. Clausen, 
Nels N. Oscar, Nels Nelson, Washburn; Peter Savage, 
Editor Iron River Pioneer, Iron River; William Knight, 
Bayfield. 

Brown County — Fred D. Miller, S. 11. Cady, Roland 
T. Burdon, Gustave Kuestermann, C. A. Armstrong, G. 
A. Buengner, Charles Kerr, Lewis Findeisen, John Ras- 
mussen, Fred B, Warren, Sol. P. Huntington, Fred Hurl- 
burt. Green Bay; B. F. Smith, Paul L. Halline. editor 
Depere News; J. P. Dousman, Depere. 

Buffalo County — -W. L. Ilouser, C. W. Gilniau. 
James Dillon, Mondovi; F. J. Bohri, H. E. Roettiger, 
Fountain City; E. F. Ganz, editor Buffalo County Jour- 
nal, Alma; John Meili, editor Lamhmann, Cochrane; 
J. W. Wood, Independence. 

Burnett County' — Ole Erickson, Simon Thoreson. 
A. J. Myrland, Tobias Thoreson, A. M. Clementson, A. E. 
Nelson, Fred S. Christianson. A. A. Anderson, E. L. 
Feet, Grantsburg; Frank Frolandor, Andrew Peterson, 
Andrew Anderson, Trade Lake; August Cassell, A. Q. 
Peterson, Charles Blomgren, Falcum : Dani.-l Jolinsou. 



458 I>aFoi.li:i ri:".s Wi.\m.\(; of Wisconsin 

Sireu ; Kobert C. Anderson, Matt Jolmson, Anderson ; 
Isaac Lundquist, John Ilill.strand, A. H, Jiorgnian, 
Marshland; IJ. J. Halberg, E. G. Maxwell, E. II, Ever- 
son, Kobert Magnuson, William B. Connor, Menon; E. 
M. Stewart, AVilliam E. Armstrong, J, A. McCarthy, S. 
H. Ames, II, C. Hanson, Rusk; Frank Faldand, Coomer. 

Calumet County — William Knauf, Andrew XoU. 
Chilton. 

Chippewa (and Rusk) — Dr, P. H. Lindley, Casper 
Lebeis, Joseph Riley, H. M. Town, Magnus Furth, 
Thomas Roycraft, AY. W, Potter, John W. Thomas, Chip- 
pewa Falls; Theodore M. Thomas, Ladysmith (Rusk 
county). 

Clark County — Spencer M." !Marsh, Frank T. Tucker, 
George E. Crothers, F. W. Draper, L. M. Sturdevant, 
John Iluntzicker, F. M. Jackson, 0, W, Schoengarth. C. 
M. Bradford, John Dwj'er, Neillsville; W. S. Irvine, 
Loyal. 

CoLUMBL\. County' — A. A. Porter, editor Portage 
Rcfjisttr; Charles Mohr, Jr., W. C. Gault, Dr. A C. 
Kellogg, J. C. Mackenzie, Portage; E. E. Haight, K, V. 
Laughlin, Dr. L. A. Squire, P. W. Mackenzie. W. H. 
Everett, Poynette; L, N. Coapman. Dr. C. E. Winder- 
mute, Frank Marshall, Solomon Brown, Don French. 
Kilbourn; H. Stanley, John Dooley, Wjocena ; George 
Hopkins, John R. Davies, Cambria; George Wylie, Leeds; 
W, H. Cobb, Stephen Hanson, Henry Thompson, Par- 
deeville; Dr. F. S. Verbeck, Sam Watson, George Gordon. 
Lodi; James R. Hastie, Dekorra; W. C. Leit.sch, W. R. 
Turner, Columbus ; Robert W^ilson, Okee ; II. A. Hanson, 
J. A. Johnson, C. P. Caldwell, Rio; W. H. McElroy. 
Marcellon ; P. J. Rasmussen. Lewiston ; Charles Anacker. 
Ft. Winnebago; G. 0. Underdahl. Hampden, Joseph 
Sanderson. Randolph; Theodore Henton, Otsego; George 
^IcMillan, Arlington; Leonard Holl, Anton Jerrison. 
Caledonia; James H. Hascy, town of Columbus. 



Appendix 459 

Crawford County— -Atley ri'iersoii, James U. David- 
son, Dr. A. J. McDowell, James Dinsdale, Soldiers Grove ; 
A. H. Long, E. I. Kidd, A. C. "Wallin, J. D. Stuart, G. L. 
Miller, Prairie dn Chien; E. E. Sherwood, Mt. Sterling. 

Dane County— Georo^e E. Bryant, S. A. llarper.^'H. 
W. Chynoweth, Dr. W. W. Gill, Gilbert E. Roe, A. G. 
Zimmerman, E. Ray Stevens, J. C. Harper, C. A. Harper, 
Ernest N. Warner, A. T. Torge, C. E. Buell, Thomas P. 
Nelson, C. M. Dow, C. R. Van Hise, A. AV. Anderson, 
Rufus B. Smith, George V. Borchscnius, Paul D. Gurnee, 
E. F. Gibbs, R. N. Qualey, N. P. Stenjem, John M. Nel- 
son, George P. Miller, C. G. Riley, H. C. Winter, George 
S. Post, C. E. Shaffer, G. E. Fess, Madison; H. B. Dahle, 
0. A. Stolen, Mt. Horeb ; Eli Pederson, Primrose ; C. W. 
Netherwood, H. I\I. Haskell, Oregon; E. F. Scherbel, 
Middleton; H. J. Spaulding, Vienna; H. B. Fargo, 
Nels Holman, Deerfield; E. J. Onstad, Chris Le- 
gried, Cambridge; Cr. J. Fjelstad, Lawrence Post, Perry; 
John M. Estes, Pleasant Springs; Julius Johnso]i, 0. K. 
Roe, Albert Burrill, Ben Compton, Erick Olson, H. A. 
Huber, Stoughton; J. Q. Emery, xilbion; John S. Don- 
ald, Springdale ; W. S. Hidden, Sun Prairie ; E. C. Me- 
land, De Forest; J. C. Hanson, Deerfield. 

Dodge County — Henry Dahl, Walter Zerbel. Albert 
Loeffler, Arthur Benke, Charles Cohn, Fred Hinzel, Dr. 
Neal Barber, John Evans, Jr.. D. S. Evans, Christ Lenz, 
David Jones, Peter Thauer, August Krueger, .Mex 
Krueger, Leonard Triplett, W. E. Gruetzmacher, John 
Zarwell, Watertown; A. C. Becher, Otto Radke, Henry 
Weisenheimer, Henry Weisensell, F. A. Rupnow, Ju- 
neau ; William Wegw'art, Emil Melcher, Woodland ; Her- 
man Wedenmeyer, Pat Sullivan, Edward Barniek, 
Charles Higgins, Richwood; J. F. ZarweU, Fred Zarwell, 
Louis Ebert. Beaver Dam; J. Labuwi, C. J. Sehoonfeld, 
J. M. Weiscnheim, G. A. Franke. Neosho: M Williams. 
Carl Porter, Fox Lake; Oscar Faber. Alvi)i Dragor. Dr. 



460 LaFoi.lette's Winxinc; ok Wisconsin 

W. liiiike, Joliii Wlu'L'lcr, William Kohl, Fred ISommers, 
Enit'st Adelmeyer, Mayville; T. P. Perkins, Dr. W. 
Ilipke, Fred Summers, Ilustisford ; Edward Westfahl. 
Ed. Behfel, Andrew Washburn, Roy Tillotson, W. A. 
Van Brunt, Horieon; John Ludetke, Iron Ridge; Alex 
Keel, Henry Ackermann, Lowell. 

Door County — II. J. Sanderson, Henry Overbeck. 
Henry Graas, Sturgeon Bay; Thomas Reynolds, Jack- 
sonport ; Alexander LaAvson, Sr.. Forestville; Joseph 
Jirtle, H. L. Peterson. Sawyer; August OTson, Clay 
Banks; A. Hogenson, Liberty Grove; James Hanson, H. 
R. Holand, Ephraim; X. J. Delfasse, I'nion; Frank 
Wellever, Egg Harbor; L. L. Johnson. Sawyer. 

Douglas County — I. L. Lenroot, E. Kirby Thomas, 
John L. Eriekson, Victor Linley, C. H. Crownhart, A. 
C. Titus, A. J. Vinje, AV. W. Andrew, R. J. Xye, A. AV. 
Durloy, Halford E. Eriekson, George B. Hudnall. John 
Eriekson, II. W. Dietrich, W. R. Foley, Superior. 

Dunn County — Albert R. Hall, Timothy Murphy. 
Knapp; 0. G. Kinney, S. S. Sivertson, Colfax; J. C. 
Wilcox, Judge John Kelly. J. E. Florin, James H. Stout, 
Menomonie; Sven Anderson, AVheeler; D. C. Coolidge, 
A. L. Best, Downing. 

Eau Claire Cottnty — Peter J. Smith, Mort McMillan. 
George Witherby, Dr. J. H. Noble. A. J. Klofanda, Fred 
M. Miner, Julius C. Gilbertson, W. A. Teall. C. N. 
Sprague, C. A. Evans, B. B. Foster, Eau Claire: C. N. 
Saugen. Eleva; Cal. McCumbor, Fairchild. 

Florence County — 

FoNo DU Lac County — John E. Williams. Frank 
Bacon, Waupun ; F. E. Wilson, W. H. Englebright. H. 
A. Weil, William Soule, C. H. Dodge. Roy Reed, Ripou; 
George Stelter, Fairwater ; William Witte, Campbells- 
port; H. A. Ripley, Oakfield ; William Mauthe. George 
Ferris, Fond du Lac. 

Forest County — John F. Hooper. William Kennard. 



Appendix 4gl 

Ward Wescott, Henry Andrews. Fred Andrews. ,lolni 
Krumm, Crandon. 

Grant Cot^xty— W. D. Richardson, Richard Meyer. 
Jr., C. H. Baxter, Edward Pollock, Stephen Taylor. 
Thomas McDonald, J. II. Howe, George W. Ryland, Wil- 
liam Ziegler, George Clementson, Robert Draper, John 
Schreiner, David Schreiner, Lancaster; Dwight T. 
Parker, Henry E. Roethe, Fennimore; L. M. O.ikcy. J. 
Kleinpell. Cassville; Sam Tiireh. Beetowii : Andrew Hiit- 
ton, George D. Beck, J. V. Ilolman, E. E. Burns. Charles 
L. Harper, George B, Carter, Platteville; Capt. H. 
Young, G. Davis, Robert Collier. Patch Grove; J. A. 
Cabanis, Georgetown; Joseph Harris. Jeiferson Craw- 
ford, Hazel Green; Milton "Woodhoiisi,'. Herman Enke. 
Bloomington ; P. T. Stevens. Rufus Quick, Joseph Chand- 
ler, Montfort ; Rufus M. Day, Alexander Cairns, D. L. 
Brunson, Mt. Hope; Thomas Watson. Charles Watson. 
J. Livingston, Livingston; John J. Blaine. Bo.scobel ; S. 
E. Smalley, Cuba City. 

Green County — John L. Sherron. Harvey (lark. 
George Pietzsch, Emery Odell, A. S. Douglas, Monroe; 
Fred Ties, Brodhead; Sol Levitan. Oswald Kubley. 
George Pierce, New Glarus; A. B. Comstock. Albany; 
Andrew Lewis, S. E. Richards, ]\[onticello. 

Green Lake County— Horace E. Stedman. Charles 
H. Russell, Newcomb Spoor, Fred Engelbracht. Sr.. 
Ernst Greverus, Thomas McKinney. Berlin ; Charles F. 
Schrader, Herman Abendroth, Charles Degener. August 
Walk, Markesan; Dr. R. H. Buckland. Green Lake; 
Frank A. Meyer, Brooklyn ; R. II. Spragg. Marquette ; 
Fred Spooner"! Philip Lehner. Princeton : Henry Prieve. 
St. Marie. 

Iowa County— A. S. Hearu. J. P. Smelker, Orvill.- 
Strong. Arthur L. Jones. Thomas Rogers. T. J. J.'ii.-s. 
Henry Roberts, W. J. Pearee, William Williams. Do.lg--- 
ville: Phil Allen. Sr.. John Francis. Badge Miner. H.-n 



462 LaFoi-lkiik's Winning of Wisconsin 

Bennett, W. H. Bennett, George C. Cox, Mineral Point; 
Levi W, Pollard, R. T. Richards, Joseph Heathcock, 
Henry D. James, Linden ; Thomas Gibbon, Thomas Raine, 
Mifllin ; R. L. Joiner, James Lloyd Jones, Wyoming; 
Evan Lewis, Kidgeway; Thomas Williams, W. J. Pryor, 
Barneveld; Al. Rewey, Rewey; William Meffert, An^na; 
Henry Culver, Cobb. 

Irox County — James Overholtzer, Eagle River. 

Jackson County — George F. Cooper. G. M. Hull, Mer- 
lin Hull, Martin Tollack, J. J. McGillivray, M. A. Lien, 
E. J. Bonnell, Black River Falls ; S. :M. Curran, Taylor ; 
W. S. Braddock, Mather; J. T. Ringrose, Alma Center; 
H. A. M. Steen, Xorthfield; Neils Heggen. York: X. N. 
Nelson, Curran; J. 0. McNutt, Warrens; Edward But- 
ton, Melrose. 

Jefferson County — W.D. Hoard. L. B. Caswell. Frank 
Scribner, E. A. Wigdale, Geo. Becher, E. A. ^IcPherson. 
Geo. Stevens, G. W. Dexheimer. Leonard Webb. George 
Schilling, H. H. Curtis, Jud Gates, R. T. Hunter, 0. W. 
Donkle, Ft. Atkinson; C, L. Church, John Marshall, Ed- 
ward Parrish, Clarence Steele, Fred Sheriff, Henry Wil- 
ber, Myron Piper, Whitewater; John Ervins, W. E. 
Blumenstein, A. A. Lepperd, Mart Roethle, Ollic F. 
Friedel, Jos. McLery, Fred Bartlett, Sullivan ; Will Hoff- 
man, William Brown. Hebron: Louis Auerbaeh. Rome; 
Ray T. Twining, Alex. Archie, D. J. Hoyt, H. M. 
Knowlton, H. W. Stokes, Ben Crump, W. F. Stiles, 
Waterloo ; J. H. Gosa, M. J. Gosa, F. G. Ervins, C. H. 
Golden, William Ervins. William Uglow. Palmyra ; Rich- 
ard Knoll, Dr. John Gai-gon. Jolm Gates. Ricluir<l Stew- 
art, Cambridge; W. F. Gnietzmacher, William F. Whyt«. 
Dr. A. H. Hartwig, Nicholas Thauer, William Gordon, 
Gust Bucheit, Harry Downing, A. B. Liebermann. Dr. 
Eugen Goldner, Frank Goldner, Thomas Perry, Paul Q. 
^'olkmann, Julius Volkniann. Frank Volkmann. James 
Meehan. Edwin Witte. Honrv AVoimann, Ilonrv Lonns- 



Appendix 4g3 

bury, Fremont Lounsbury, Watertown; Frank Marsh 
E. C. Dewara, Albert Ilanke, 0. II. .Stevens, Wiiiiam 
Voight, George Mimsell, F. J. Fleming, George Fleming, 
J. M. Gannon, Martin Puence, C. II. Henry, C. E. Cope- 
land, C. C. Fox, Ole Olson, Herman Ladien, Jefferson ; 
George Wertheimer, II. W. Gallup, M. E. Sanders, Edwni 
H. Wollin, F. C. Mansfield, Will Schallert, Johnson's 
Creek ; Owen Roberts, Carl Marlow, Ixonia ; F. C. Green- 
wood, H. T. Nicholai, E. C. Dodge, Frank Fargo, W. F. 
M. Meyers, Fred Curr, John Millard, Ed Kisow, David 
Sheldon, Julius Cooper, Frank Schutz, Lake i\Iills. 

Juneau County— J. K. Powell, Charles A. Leicht, U. 
S. Baer, H. J. Mortenson, New Lisbon; A. C. Johnson, 
Camp Douglas ; Dr. G. H. Parham, Necedah ; J. F. Dith- 
mar, Elroy ; M. L. Bunnell, Mauston. 

Kenosha County — W. M. Curtis, Trevor; A. E. Buck- 
master, F. G. Babcoek, R. V. Baker, Kenosha; F. R. 
Lavey, Charles Marsch, Frank Rowbatton, Bristol ; Rich- 
ard Swanson, John T. Thompson, Wilmot; Ward Bloss. 
Salem; Isaac T. Bishop, Somers; F. W. Robert, Wood- 
worth; Frank Shuart, Pleasant Prairie. 

Kewaunee County^ — Joseph F. Valecka, Edwin Al- 
bertson, Carl Schneider, George \V, Wing, John Dish- 
maker, Thomas Chapman, Mat Sinianek, Joseph G. Wal- 
ecka, Anton Dishmaker, George R. Wilbur, M. T. Parker, 
Anton G. Schauer, Kewaunee. 

LaCrosse County — E. M. W^ing, John E. MeConnell, 
Thomas Morris, Otto Bosshard, A. M. Braytoii, W. B. 
Tscharner, LaCrosse; V. S. Keppel, Holman; S. W. 
Brown, William Bradley, T. P. Coburn, West Salem. 

Lafayette County — Harry C. Martin, R. J. Wilson. 
Willis R. Law, W. J. Hocking, Darlington ; C. C. Ben- 
nett, South Wayne; James McGinty. T. J. Kilpatrick. 
Kendall: John Waddington, John Powell. Argyle; J. J. 
Uren, Peter Olson, Blanchardville; William Keuling, 
William Look, Shullsburg, Sherman T. Dodge. George 



464 l>.\Foi.I.KTI K's Wl.N.NJ.M, OK \\'I.SCU.NS1.N 

Watsou, -\ew Difjgings; A. A. Eastman, Kobt-rt Stuart, 
F. H. Underhill, J. J. Iverson, Wayne; O. M. Richards, 
B. F. Buckmaster, Fayette; Harrison Bragg, Herod 
True, Henry Tipp, Gratiot; Robert Farren, Edward 
Bretz, Dumbarton, \V. B. Vail, John Huntington, Bel- 
mont; 0. J. Lovelass, Ole C. Walden, H. C. Larson, 
Charles Arnott, Julius Engebretson, Wiota; H. M. 
Bridgman, Charles Lancaster, Lamont ; Frank Higgins, 
Darlington. 

Laxglade County — I. D. Steffen, C. 0. Marsh, J. J. 
Laughlin, William Ings, H. J. ^Morgan, Judge W. F. 
White, Autigo. 

Lincoln County — ^W. H. Flett, Ralph E. Smith, F. 
H, Hillyer, F. M. Montgomery, Frank Debarr, C. S. 
Stimers, J. A. Niles, Oscar Gagnon, L. A. Jopke, Victor 
Larson, Merrill; George M. Sheldon, E. W. Whitson, 
Tomahawk; H. H. Stolle, Tripoli; Amandus Jolinson, 
Spirit Falls. 

Manitowoc County — Simon Wehrwein, Thomas E. 
Torrison, A. J. Torrison, Dr. G. W. Patehen. A. P. 
Seheniau, John C. Detlricks, Carl X. Zander, F. J. 
Taugher, Manitowoc; Ole Berge, Valders; August Wils- 
mann, Martin Gratis, Two Rivers; Rudolph Soukup, 
Nicholas Scheuer, John Sporer, G. Koehler, Mishicott; 
Frank Kugle, Cooperstown. 

Marathon County — H. E. McEachron, W. J. Kregel, 
A. F. Marquardt, L. E. Spencer, Clyde L. Warren, Fred 
Prehn, W. Melms, John King, Wausau; J. W. Salter, 
Unity ; Dr. W. N. Daniels, Mosinee ; Dr. J. Barber, Mara- 
thon City. 

Makinette County — Warren J. Davis, Christ John- 
son, Isaac Stephenson, E. W. LeRoy, John C. Miller, Dr. 
II. W. Coulter, H. J. Van Cleve, J. E. Price. ^Lirinette. 

^Iakquette Cot^nty — S. W. Butler, P. J. Kimball, 
Montello; Eben S. Hunt, Endeavor; E. H. Kempley, 
Packwaukee. 



Afi'kndix 4g3 

Milwaukee County — (iSee story of year 1898). 

Monroe County— Dr. W. T. Carles, A. F. Brandt, 
Melvin Lawton, M. H. Earley, T. H. (HUett, L. B. Squire! 
George P. Stevens, W. E. Nusum, F. A. lloUlen, Joseph 
D. Beck, W. G. Williams, 1). C. Beebe, C. W. Beebe, W. 

A. Jones, T. C. Longwell, Alex Xicol, W. E. Bush, A. 
J, Torry, Howard Teasdale, Thomas liobson. George 
Gilbertson, A. E. Evanson, Al Tester. W. E. liolton, J. 
Jj. Hefferman, W. A. Iledding, J. Buswell. Andreu 
Hutson, R. C. Falconer. 

Oconto County — T. E. Mills, Leslie C. Harvey. 
George Beyer, E. A. Edmonds, Henry Johnson, Oliver 
TruedeU. 

Oneida County — W. T. Stevens, E. B. Crawfoot, 
Alexander J. Cobban, D. D. Stevens, Samuel T. Walker, 
Carl Krueger, Prescott Calkins, S. H. Alban, F. A. Low- 
ell, editor Neiv North; AV. Y. Reed, Charles Woodcock. 
Chris H. Roepcke, H. L. Braeger, Richard Keed, A. M. 
Riley, Olaf Goldstrand, Martin E. Berg, Hans Anderson. 
Hans Rodd, John Didier, John Bernstein, E. O. Brown. 
Rhinelander; F. S. Campbell, Andrew Hanson, Frank 
Federer, Three Lakes; Willis Jewell, George Jewell, 
Walter Thnrber, John Lubold. Homer McLaughlin. Wil- 
liam Hardell. 

Outagamie County — J. Henry Harbeck, F. M. Wilcox. 

B. C. Wolter, Charles Clack. T. F. Stark, G. R. Downer, 
F. E. Clark, George D. Wood. Fred Plainan. C. B. Bal- 
lard, Appleton; Peter Tubbs, Seymour; H. :\r. Culbert- 
son, Medina ; John ilitchell, Kaukauna. 

Ozaukee County'— Eugene S. Turner, Dr. William P. 
McGovern, H. L. Coe, A. D. Bolens, Port Washington ; 
Henry Wittenberg, A. R. Buerner, Cedarburg; Henry 
Mohr'husen, Sr., Henry IMohrhusen. Jr., Thicnsville. 

Pepin County— W. V. Dorwin, Burr W. Tarrant, C. 
A. Ingram, C. H. Schleuter. M. H. Newcomb, Pepin ; A. 

30 



466 LaFoi.i.ki ir.'s Wi.NNtNc or Wisco.nsin 

T. Josephson, .Stockliolm ; Frank Eckler, Frankfort; H. 
M. Mills, Arkansaw ; Andrew llohrscheit, Albany. 

Pierce Coixty — N. P. Ilaugcn, W. D. Parker, Frank 
Ensign, C. E. Hanson, Iliver Falls; W. C. Oltman, Oluff 
Halls, J. F. Sliaw, Ellsworth; Walter C. Owen, Maiden 
Kock ; llcrrnan Peterson, Martell; John Thompson, Gil- 
man. 

Polk Cot^nty— Adolph Larson, C. W. Staples, Dr. H. 
E. Combacker, Osceola; Cassius W. Monty, L. B. Dresser. 
St. Croix Falls; Axel Johnson, Turtle Lake. 

Portage County — L. R. Larson, Dr. R. D. Rood, A. 
R. Week, C. D. McFarland, J. J. Nelson, L. J. N. Miirat. 
George B. Nelson, F. H. Timm, Gerhard M. Dahl, M. 0. 
Wrolstad, F. B. Lamoreux, Carl 0. Doxrud. 

Pbice County — Thomas Holland, Park Falls ; C. D, 
Fenelon, W\ T. Lippets, W. K. Parkinson. J. R. Farr. 
Phillips; F. J. Salter, C. F. Lindberg. Preiiticr; August 
Heiden, Ogema; P. H. Hammar, Cata\vl)a. 

Racine County — C. C. Gittings, Racine; John 0. 
Thomas, H. F. Johnson, Caledonia; George West, J. H. 
Knniper, Joseph Hay, Franksville ; J. IT. Smith. Kansas- 
villc; John T. Kice, Edward ^Iills. liurliiTjtoii : John 
(littings, J. S. Blake3% Tnion Grove. 

RicnLAND County — Levi H. Bancroft, R. IL DeLap. 
H. J. Clark, C. R. Thomson, D. G. James, William Gil- 
liiigliam, John Shireman, Dr. A. D. Campbell, A. M. 
Turgeson, Charles Baker, Richland Center; J. C. Thorpe. 
Tavera; Ed. Bender, Viola; Ole Goplin, Boaz; R. E. Mc- 
Carthy, Hub City; Fred Noycs, Cazenovia ; \V. A. Shaw. 
Loyd;' Griff Miles, Twin Bluffs; Frank Brown, Gotham. 

Rock County — -Frank P. Starr, Stewart Heddles, Vic- 
tor Richardson, Janesville; Perry C. Wilder, F. W. Oil- 
man, George L. Pullen, A. C. Gray, Charles E. Moore. 
Evansville; L. E. Gettle, T. B. Earle, Hugh ^MeTnnis. 
John i\[awhinney, Edgorton ; Roliort Dowd. C. 1). Rosa. 
Harrv W. Adams, Beloit; Erie Haugen, H. C. Taylor. 



Appendix 467 

Edward Eagen, Orfordviile ; E. C. McGowan, J. 11. 
Owen, Milton Junction ; Ezra Goodrich, Milton. 

St. Croix County — James A. Frear, Samuel J. Brad- 
ford, Dr. Lawrence P. Mayer, Rol)ert Dinsmore, L. B. 
Nagler, Hudson; Henry Anderson, 0. K. Ilawley, H. S. 
Offerdahl, Baldwin; George Oakes, S. X. Hawkins. New 
Richmond. 

Sauk County — Dr. Charles Gorst, Wilbur Gaboon, 
John M. True, E. F. Dithmar, J. B. Donovan, A. G. 
Buckley, M. L. Reynolds, Baraboo; James A. Stone. 
Reedsburg. 

Sawyer County — Hans Fuley, 0. H. Osmundsen, 
Hayward. 

Shawano County — Jonas Swcnholt, 1. R. Nye, E. A. 
Ketcham, Wittenberg; E. V. Werner, Anton Kucknk, W. 
E. Wilson, Dr. H. W. Partlow, M. J. Wallrich, Shawano. 

Sheboygan County— Otto Gaffron, E. B. Mattoon. E. 
Mclntyre, E. J. Keyes, J. G. End, Henry Krumrey, 
Charles Pfeifer, August G. Myers, R. I. Warner. A. D. 
DeLand, Dr. J. E. Kingsley, August H. Onehl. llfrinan 
Loessing, Charles A. Born. 

Taylor County— Peter Liberty, Stetsonville; G. W. 
Adams, J. B. Hagarty, E. L. Urquhart, W. E. Hibbard, 
Medford; W. H. Allen, Chelsea; Frank M. Perry, A. 
Premeau, Westboro ; J. J. Vormastek, Louis Olson. Rib 

Lake. 

Trempealeau County— Elmer Immel, Blair; Prank 
A. Kellman, Herman L. Ekern, Whitehall ; H. H. Lewis. 
Hale; Erick J. Brovold, Ole Semb, Ettrick; B. M. Slette- 
land, Pigeon Falls; Edward J. Hagen, Sivert Reekstad, 
Osseo; Jorgen Olson, Eleva; John C. Muir. A. C. Gil- 
bertson, Arcadia. 

Vernon County— Oliver G. Munson, Frank Tatera, 
William Kingston. Dr. M. Sorenson, C. J. Smith Dr. 
Fred Wilkins, Viroqua; A. H. Dahl, Brown Olson, West- 
by; J. J. Marshall. LaFarge: Engebret Hage. Harmony; 
John Fostor. DeSnto. 



46S LaFoI.I.KITK'S WiNNINC of WjSfONSlN 

\'iLAs ("oiNTV— James Obcrlioltzcr. Al Croker. Wil- 
liam Adams, Alexander IIi^y:ins. Eajrlc River; Julius 
Dickman, John Frank. Donaldson; Denis Patiuctte, 
Arbor Vitae. 

Walworth County — Edward Eames, Samuel Mitch- 
ell, E. J. Hooper, E. H. Spraj^ue, Robert Lean, Sidney 
C. Goff, John Snyder, editor hidcpcndcnt ; S. P. Morri- 
son, Elkhorn; Maurice Morrissey, editor Dehivan Repnh- 
lican, Delavan; Fred Knll, Lake Geneva. 

Washburn Cot'Nty — Andrew Ryan, editor Wnakhurn 
liigistcr: A. A. Lavall, James Wynne, Frank Pease, 
Shell Lake; Ole Soholt, Madge. 

Washington County — Don Maxon, Schlesingerville ; 
P. W. Graemer, Rockfield ; L. D. Guth, Kewaskum ; 
Lorenz Guth, C. F. Leins, West Bend; C. L. Brink. PLirt- 
ford. 

AVaukesha County — S. E. Gernon, 0. P. Clinton. 
Frank Shultis, Theron W. Haight, Henry Lockney, Wau- 
kesha ; Roderick Ainsworth, Merton ; George E. Hoyt. 
Menomonee Falls ; J. A. Peacock, L. J. Lehman, William 
Kittle, John Bartlett, Dr. J, J. Pink, William Meadows. 
Adam Blanchard, Oconomowoc ; Charles Solverson, 
Nashotah ; Esau Beumont, Hartland ; H. M. Youmans. 
Waukesha. 

Waupaca County — E. E. Browne, Fred Roche, John 
Madsen, W. H. Holmes, W. 0. Ware, A. R. Potts, Wau- 
paca ; Dr. H. A. Meileke. Clintonville ; Dr. W. Irvine. 
Manawa ; N. C. Nelson, Barney Peterson, Gunder Bergen. 
Tola; Thomas Thoreson. James Anderson. Scandinavia; 
W. H. Hatton, W. H. Dick, W. E. Lipke. New London ; 
George E. Beedle, George Delaney. Embarrass; Emil 
Steigcr. Fremont. 

Waushara County — Buchanan Johnson, W. D. Cor- 
rigan, Plainfield ; Michael O'Connor, Charles O'Connor. 
Hancock : Byron O. Storms. E. F. Kileen. E. G. Keup. 
Wautoma ; David Evans, Jr., Berlin. 



Al•PK^'Dl.\ 4t)!l 

Winnebago County— A. J. Barber, llermmi Dans. 
W. N. Armington, R. L. Clark, E. K. llicks, Oshkosh; 
W. E. Hurlbut, C. H. Larrabee, J. N. Tittemore, S. Leigh- 
ton, Omro; Daniel Jones, Poygan; Charles Appley, Kush- 
f ord ; John A. Fridd, Xepenskiuii; Joseph Hill. Xels 
Radiek, Menasha; J. H. Dennhardt, John Strange, H. J. 
Frank, S. B. Baird, B. E. Pride, E. Van Rlyke. Neenah ; 
Fred Palmer, Clayton; M. F. White, George Miller, 
David Fredenburg. Winneconne ; II. 0. Stromme, A. C. 
Jorgenson, Kittle Knutson. Joseph D. Ilongh. Win- 
chester; Timothy Allen, Sr.. Vinland; Daniel Shea. 
Utica; A. T. Grnndy, L. H. Thompson, George Jones. 
William Jones, town of Neenah ; John Hicks, Oshkosh. 

Wood County — Frank A. Cady, W. D. Connor, John 
White, George Upham, Evan Upham, E. E. Winch, R 
L. Kraus, P. N. Christensen, R. E. Andrew, Marshfield : 
A. L. Fontaine, T. W. Brazeau. Grand Rapids: J. (!old 
worthy, Nicholas Streveler. Vesper. 



A TRIBUTE FROM EARLY DAYS 

Eureka Sirings, Ark., Ajnil 17. l'.>ll-'. 

Mr. A. O. Barton, Madir<oii, Wis. 

Dear Sir: I am in receipt of your c-oniniunicatiou of Fcliniary 
19, asking a short article from me regardiuK: wliat i know of 
Robert M. LaFollette durinfr his early boyhood. I am indeed ylad 
that I am permitted to say a word concerning, in any way or any 
part, the life of such a grand and noble champion of human 
rights and freedom of the masses, as we know Robert to be. 

My father, Joel Britts, moved to Wisconsin in the si)ring of 
1848, from Ladoga. lud., settling in Primrose townshiis Dane 
county, 21 miles southwest of Madison. I was at that time ten 
years of age an<i well remember that neighbors were not numerous, 
as some of our most intimate ones lived from two to four miles 
from us. At that time roving bands of Indians were famihar 
sights and constant vigilance was necessary to protect our sheep, 
pigs and iu fact all young stock from the flocks of wolves lynx 
and bobcats that infested the country at that time. My father 
and brothers Iniilt and ran the well-known Britts" gnst mill west 
of Mt. Vernon. 



•171) 1, \K(n.i.i;rii:'.s \Vi.n.m.\(. oi Wisi onki.n 

Josiah LaFollctte eanie from the same part of Imliaiia that my 
parents did and settled witliin two miles of us. I do not remem- 
ber the exact date of their coming. Having been old neighliors in 
Indiana, we were, of course, quite intimate. The family, as i 
knew it later on consisted of Mr. and Mrs. LaFollette, Helen 
Buchanan, a daughter of Mrs. LaFollette by a previous marriage; 
William T. LaFollette, Josephine and Robert Marion. The eldest 
ilaughtor, Helen, was a bright and splendid girl. All the boys 
were in love with her, but I admired her most of any of them, be- 
cause she was the only one in all that section who couM spell me 
down at our spelling schools. Dean Eastman came and stole our 
Helen from ns. He may be all rigiit fo Oiis day, but it would 
require evidence to convince me of the fact. 

Next in the family was William, a sturdy, sensible boy who took 
kindly to the hard work we were all expected to do, but was of a 
studious turn and ])rove(l far above the m£diocre in grasping the 
slender straws of advantage that blew our way in those days. 

Next came Josephine, and a darling waif was she, of bright 
penetrating eyes with a twinkle of merriment that savored of the 
"I 've-got-you-cornercd " spirit when she beat me at playing "tit- 
tat-toe. ' ' 

Last in the family came little Bobbie. He was ])lump and full- 
fledged as a baby should be, but there seemed nothing about him 
then to mark him as a sujjcrior chunk of clay. There were other 
babies as pretty and cute as he but somehow Bobl)ie had a way 
of his own, and it was a winning way, as he always gained his 
point in everything he set himself about. Where did he get this 
manner and his indomitable will — his steadfast determination to 
do certain things and to do them right? Well, T will tell you. 
He received them from his mother. He inherited the talent and 
then cultivated it later on. 

I well remember a man by the name of Peter Nace, who lived 
on the road to Black Earth, a Virginian by birth, who had come 
north in an early day. He was a man above the average and a 
leader in thought. I remember one night when lie was staying 
with us he and my father were discussing the merits of liincoln 
and Douglas while these men were rivals for senatorial honors. 
My father remarked that while Abe Lincoln was nut as polished 
by education as was Mr. Douglas, yet he seemed to be the abler 
man. Mr. Naco at once refdied, '• That's due to his mother," 
then added: 

''When yon arc talking .-ilmiit your grr;it man tell iTie about his 
motlier .-ind I will tell you abnnt liini. I r:\vo notliing about the 



Appendix 47 1 

father, but the mother nuist liavc been ;i s\iperior woman it' voiir 
great man is genuine. ' ' 

How truly this statement applies to Little Bobbie and hia 
mother. "While his father was a man of strong intelloctufil cast, 




JOEL BRITTS, 
Prominent Early Settler of Primrose, Wis. 

I know but little of him personally, as he died when Robert was n 
mere babv, but the mother T well remember as a most lovable and 
sensible woman, logical and sane in all her plans an.l densums. 
ever kind and considerate in her family circle and toward lier 
neighbors, and in all a most estimable chara<der, whom rvcrvonc 
knowing her loved for her intrinsic value as a friend. 

I knew Robert up to the age of twelve as a shrewd, sagacion. 
boy, not free from the general character of boys of his age— anu 



472 



LaFui.i.kitk's Wi.\m.n(; ok Wisconsin 



niuiiy wiis tlic i-uiiniiig j'jki' lie jperi'i'tratt'il on tliosf .iromul liiiii, 
especially on his stcpfiitlicr, ''Uncle .John'' Saxton. 

My wife and I visited the family shortly after our marriage and 
on our way to Minnesota. They lived at Arpryle at the time and 
Robert had carried water to the elephant for a free ticket to a 
circus that had strayed into Argyle, and his services were so well 
appreciated that the showman while feeding guinea j)igH to the 
boa constrictor gave Bob two of the smallest ones l)ecause of his 
pathetic plea to spare their lives. Later on those young guineas 
became a nuisance and Bob asked as a favor that I accept them as 
a wedding present, which I gladly did, and when leaving I pre- 
sented him with a silver dollar. I have a letter from him since he 
became a United States senator saying: "I used to look at that 
dollar and see visions of fortune loom up before my mental horizon 
in the near future. ' ' But as the fortune never has materialized, 
I suppose more noble asjdrations dominated his mental and spir- 
itual nature, as we see him today, a poor man comjjaratively, bat- 
tling fearlessly for human rights when we all know he might have 
been an easy going man of wc^alth had lie chosen to serxc tnamnwin 
instead of his fellows. 

If our country should need a strong ])ilot along the course of 
statecraft a safer or saner man could not be foun<l for the job 
than our own Senator Robert Marion LaFollette. There would not 
even be the semblance of an experiment in trying him, as he has 
been thoroughly tested in administrative ability. What he has 
(lone for Wisconsin he could and would do for the United States. 

Sam n. BruTTs. 




f'ld I^iKollctte Farm, rrimroso. 
August. iyi9 



Wis., 



INDEX 

(Except list of iiaiiics in A].i>en(lix). 



Abel, T. P.. 191 
Adams, H. C, 65, 133, 171 
Adams, H. W., 191 
Ainsworth, Eoderick C, 231, 

233 
Aldrieh, C. H., 30 
Anderson, John, 57, Hi 
Anderson, W. J., 362, 418 
Andrew, E. M., 61 
Andrew, W. W., 231, 233, 237 
Avery, C. H., 444 

Babcock, J. W., 143, 157, 309, 

379 
Bader, B., 123 
Baensch, Emil, 136, 295, 363, 

379 
Bahr, A. L., 311 
Bahr, Wm., 123 
Baker, H. C, 348 
Barber, W. E., 300 
Bancroft, L. H., 172, 202, 308, 

356, 358 
Barker, Charles, 173, 252 
Barnes, John, 405 
Barney, S. S., 68 
Barton, A. 0., 1 
Bashford, R. M., 405 
Baumgartner, H. J., 116, 118. 

122, 131 
Beach, Z. P., 273 
Beedle, G. E., 232 
Bennett, C. C, 396 
Beveridge, A. J., 21, 40 
Blaine, John J., 235 
Bomrich, L. G., 164, 213, 398 
Bourne, J., 21, 25, 30 
Boorse, W., 123 
Borah, W. E., 21 
Bradford, I. B., 66, 139, 235 
Bradford, S. J., 403 
Bradley, H. E., 123 
Brady ,"^ C. E., 296 



Rrandeis, L. 1)., 15, 31 

Brew, George, 119 

Brew. M. J., 123 

BridgniMU, L. \V., 330 

Briun, ,1., 123 

Bristovv, J. L., 21, 3(1 

Britts, Joel, 469 

Brit Is, S. II., 470 

Brown, Neal, 221, 398 

Br Villi. \V. J., 26, 210, 214, 383 

Brvaut, G. E., 54, 66, 138, 150, 

i59, 264, 352 
Bruce, W. G., 398 
Buell, C. E., 448 
Buckstaff, G. A., 203 
Bunn, Romanzo, 34' 
Buslinoll, A. R., 82 

Cady, F. A., 173, 237, 251, 267 
Cannon, J. G., 22 
Cary, W. J., 22, 30 
Carpenter, Matt II., 40 
Gary, C. P., 195, 200, 203 
Cassodav, J. B., 407 
Casson, Ilenrv, 143, 310 
Castle, Bryaii J., 448 
Chatterton, Fenimore, 444 
Cheney, A. J., 273 
Chynowcth, II. W., 54, 0(5, 172, 

204, 331, 361, 405 
Choinski, E. W., 119. 122 
Clearv, T. L., 398 
Clapp, M. E., 30 
Clanccv, J. M., 398 
Coehems, H. W., 2033, 271, 191, 

136, 339, 386 
Connor, W. D., 67, 331, 367, 

379, 404 
Conrad, J. H., 123 
Cowling. W. C., 232. 359 
Corrig:ni. J. E.. 119 
Clenipntson, (J. B., 296 
Cooper, H. A.. 22. 30 



171 



LaI'oi i.i:i ri.'.s W'i.wi.mi (jk Wise onsin 



Cook, S. A., 295, 361, 36<i 
Comstock, II. S., 66, 264 
Cramptoii, Nat, 304 
Crane, Chas. R., 30. 31 
Crawford, Arthur W., 330 
Crawford, Coe I., 21, 30 
Cummins. A. B., 21, 30, 444 
Curtis, Benjamin R., 39 
Curtis, H. k., 123 
Curtis, Sumner M., 201 
Curtis, Wardon A., 305 
Curtis, W. D., 338 
Cotzhausen, F. W., 213 

Dahl. A. H., 167, 231, 233, 251. 

430 
Dahle, H. B., 193 
Daley, B. J., 90 
Davidson, J. O., 99, 136, 195, 

206, 371 
Davis, Charles R., 22 
Dennhardt, J. H., 437 
Denu, Albert R., 434 
Dielman. Charles, 119, 122 
Dilyer, T. P., 123 
Dingley, F. L., 31 
Dixon, Joseph M., 30 
Dolliver, J. P., 21, 33 
Dodge, A. J., Ill 
Doerfler, Christian, 122 
Dousman, T. P., 403 
Drake, E. W., 230 
Duerrwachter, P. G., 173 
Duke, W. T., 119, 123, 397 
Dunn, Nellie, 394 
Donald, John S., 232 
Douglas, M. C, 201 
Dow, J. G., 299 
Drew, Walter, 235 

Eastman, Dean. 470 
Eaton, B. A., 235 
Elkert, Charles, 119 
Elliott, Eugene S., 118 
Ekern, Ilerruan L., 232, 233. 

327 
Elward, R. A., 334 
Hrickson, Halford E., 235, 271, 

410 



Ericksoii, Joiin L., 57. 371 
Erdall, John L.. 193 
Esau, Charles, 123 
Estabrook. C E.. 136 
Evans, David. Jr.. 173, 192, 

231, 451 

Evarts, William M., 39 
Everett, Winter, 326 

Fiebrantz, Charles, 122 

Fink, Henry, 172, 3S3 

Foster, G. A., 122 

Frazier, R. R., 38-1 

Frear, James A., 17l', S.'.-J, 2,^7, 

251, 367, 428 
Froehlich, W. H., 206 

Garfield, James R., 31 
Gavenev, John C, 400-1 
Gerbardt, William, 123 
Gernon, S. E., 403 
Gettle, L. E.. 203 
Geuder, William, 117 
Gibbs, E. F.. 448 
Gill, T. U.. 144 
Gittings, C. C, 380 
Grassie, George F., 322 
Gratz, A. W., 448 
Griffin, Michael, 73 
Gronna, A. J., 30, 32 
Groves, .lolni W., ]0(i 

Halm. Utto L., 123 
Haight. Theron W., 193 
Hall, Albert R., 73, 93. 103, 
167, 173, 181, 136, 13H, 231, 

232, 356. 438 
llalbert. H. T., 31 

Hannan. John J., 104. 1 1S», i:;:!. 

224. 323. 393, 433. 434 
Harbock. J. H.. 222 
H.irlowe. Daviil, 119, 123 
Harper, J. C, 171, 445 
Harper, Samuel A., 51, 79. I(t9, 

117 
H.nris, John, 67, 273-4 
llarshaw, II. B., 43 
Il.nt. r. P., 122 
llaivcy. L. ]).. 203. 219 
1 1 art ling. I'rod. 233 



IXDKX 



475 



Hatton, W. H., 233, 280 
Haugen, G. N., 23, 31 
Haugen, N. P., 33, 157, 244, 

371 
Haven, Spencer, 362 
Havden, H. H., 172 
Hayes, A. E., 23 
Ileiueman, Fred, 222 
Heney, Francis J., 31 
Hicks, E. E., 223, 356 
Hidden, Walter S., 66 
Hiestand, Rob R., 388 
Hoar, E. E., 39 
Hoard, William D., 185, 204. 

377 
Holman, Nels, 194 
Holmes, Fred L., 330 
Houser, Walter L., 206, 380, 

386, 402, 410 
Hoven, M. J., 174 
Howard, E. F., 72 
Host, Zeno ^L, 119, 122, 195, 

206, 408 
Howe, Fred C, 31 
Hubbard, E. H., 23, 30, 31 
Huber, Henry A., 378, 393 
Hudnall, George B., 359 
Hyde, F. F., 119, 122 

Ingersoll, Cham, 152 
Irvine, W. S., 251 

Jackson, Fred S., 31 

Jeffris, M. G., 103, 347, 359, 

437 
Jenkins, J. J., 155 
Johnson, Henry, 151, 231, 233, 

251 
Johnson, Hiram, 30 
Johnson, O. W., 296 
Jones, A. M. ("Long"), 139, 

151-2, 156, 221, 235, 279 
Jones, Clarence, 31 
Jones, Thomas J., 486 
Jordan, E. S., 330 
Joys, John, 122 

Kayser, A. H., 348, 353 
Kearney, T. M., 398 



Keeiie, F. 1'.., 17:; 

Keep, A 11)0 It, 3H 

Kellcy, .M. ])., Mil 

Ivelsey, C. II., 325 

Kempt", John J., 117-18, 119, 

123, 195, 206, 394 
Kendall, N. E., 23 
Kent, William, 30, 31 
Kerens, E. C, 388 
KerMin, J. C, 311 
Keyes, E. W., 64, 69, 155, 159, 

285, 384 
Kimberley, 0. E., 163 
King, William, 434 
Kinnev. 0. G., 251 
Knofl',' E. E., 330 
Kopp, Arthur W., 22 
Kress, H. G., 141 
Kreutzberg, L. J., 119, 122 
Kreutzer, A. L., 235 
Kronshage, Theodore, 117, 397 
Kull, Fred, 349 
Kuolt. Albert E., 117-18, 120 
Kurtz, Adolph, 123 

LaFollette, Josiah, 470 
LaFollette, Mrs. Mary. 127 
LaFollette, Mrs. Robert M., 

157, 245, 351 
LaFollette, William L., 31 
LaFollette, WUliam T., 470 
Lando, N. M., 119 
Lenroot, Irvine L., 22, 30, 31 

192, 231, 233, 235 
Leroy, E. W., 231, 251 
Lewis, Evan, 349 
Lewis, Hugh, 390, 392, 439 
Lindbergh, C. A.. 22, 31 
Lindsay, B. B., 25 
Loftus, George S., 31 
Long, A. H., 66. 69, 136 
Luse, L. K., 311 
Lorenz, F. C, 119, 122 
Lundv, Ira, 122 
Lush,' Charles K.. 410 
Lund, T. C, 65 

Maas, C. C, 119 
Madison, E. H., 31 



476 LaFoi.mciti's Winnixo oi Wihco.nsin 

Man.ilian, James A., 417 Oiton, P. A., 152, 177, 231. 232 

Markoit, A., 119 Osborne, A. L., 251 

Marlett, James, 11!), 122 Oshoni, Chase 30 

Marsh, C. O., 353, 426 Overbcck, Henrv, 231 

Marshall, R. D., 406 

Martin, II. A., 119 Paine, ('. M., 119, 122 

Martin, 11. C, 235 Paringer, Ferd., 122 

Martin, P. H., 213 Parker, D. T., 126. 403 

Matheson, A. E., 273 Pavne, Henrv (*.. 57, 116, 141. 

Mayer, S. F., 296 379, 400 

Met,'}iett, A. A., 303, 384 Peck, George R., 243, 273 

Menges, C. A., 119, 123 Peck. George W., 293, 399 

McEachron, H. E., 151 Peck, II. E. L., 230 

MeCahe. M. M., 173 I'eterson, Atlev, 66 

McCarthy, Charles II.. 272 Peterson. S. a", 115, 296 

McElroy, W. J., 122 Peterson, James A., 31 

McFetridge, E. C. 43 Petlierick. E. R.. 317 

McGce, James, 123 Pfister, Cliarles K., 43. 70, 184 

McGiliivray, J. J., 66, 235, 279 201, 324 

McGovern, Francis E.. 30, 118. Pliilipp, E. L., 169, 204, 238 

120 Peterman, (i. W., 119, 122 

McGovern, J. J., 118. 122, 129 Pinchot, Gitlord, 30, 31 

:McKenzie, J. C. 403 Poiiulexter, Miles, 22, 31 

Miller, George P., 170 Pollard, Levi. 349 

Miller, William, 394 Poppendieck, John. 201 

Mitchell, Alexander, 38 Powell, W. W.. 319 

Monahan, J. G., 152, 171, 383 Pnllen. C. F. P.. 119. 120. 126 
>'organ, H. H., 296, 303, 384 127 

Morse, E. A.. 22 Pnls, Theodore. 122 

Murdock. Victor, 22, 31 Pnrtell. T. M., :',m 
Murphy, Jerre C, 77, 142, 192 

, •"^-? Canaries, Charles. 43S 

Mynek, II. P., 146-7, 380 Qnarles. Joseph V.. 365, 379. 

442 
Nace, Peter, 470 

Xelson, Jennie. 394 Rader, J. ('.. 123 

Nel.son. John M., 22, 30, 66. 69. Rauschenherger, \V. G.. 116 

303,416,434 Rawson, M. J.. 19,S 

Nelson, Thomas P., 448 Ray. G. II., 167. 231, 235, 252 

Newall, G. A., 445 Record, George L.. 27, 30 

Norman, James L., 119 Reinholdt, George. 119 

Xorris. George W., 22, 30, 31 Reinholdt, II. D.. 119 

Richardson. W. II.. 131 

O'Connor. Charles. 439 Richtcr. W. A.. 347 

O'Connor. J. I... 42. 213. 39S Riddle. W. M., 444 

Odlan.j, M. \V.. 299 h'ilev. Charles G., 297 

Olhrich. M. R. 303 h'iordon. D. E., 452 

Olin, John M.. 386. 402 K'ing. M. ('., 256 

Olson. Julius K.. 56 Roberts. .1. C., 44." 



Index 



477 



Roe, G. E., 31, 125, 135, 386 

Rogers, Earl M., 139, 152 

Rogers, C. C, 365 

Rogers, W. H., 213 

Rogers, Tom, 123 

Roethe, H. E., 184 

Rose, D. F., 116, 209, 217, 280 

398 
Roosevelt. Theodore, 31, 48, 

380 
Root, W. L., 251 
Rosenberry, M. B., 296, 353. 

356 
Ross, E. A., 23, 27, 253 
Rossman, Geo. P., 177, 231 
Roth, John, 123 
Rublee, Horace, 45 
Ryan, E. G., 39 
Ryan, T. E., 398 

Salisbury, A., 122 
Sarles, W. T., 403 
Sawyer, H. W., 137 
Sawyer, Philetus, 42 
Saxton, John, 127 
Schmitz, O. J., 398, 213 
Schoenfield, W. D., 330 
Schuster, O. J., 204 
Schmidt. Richard, 119, 122 
Schoelkopf, L. F., 434 
Scofield, Edward, 102, 133, 151. 

166, 206, 265, 408 
Seidel, Emil, 230 
Seidel, Otto, 123 
Shaffer, C. E., 448 
Sheasbv, Fred, 300 
Sheldon, S. L., 285 
Shfuiffs, T. W., 119, 122 
Siebecker, R. G., 42 
Silkworth, C. A., 173 
Souther, F. T., 123 
Smethurst, Joseph, 99 
Smith, W. H., 403 
Sonnemann, August, 119 
Spence, T. W., 347, 358 
Spooner, John C, 51, 98, 113, 

140, 153, 202, 255, 365, 379, 

440 
Spooner, P. L., 293, 296 



Spooner, R. C, 51 

Starkey, D. B., 183 

Stebbins, Dewavne, 1.S9, 152, 

156 
Steensland, Halle, 65 
Steffens, Lincoln, 417 
Stelloh, George, \2.\ 
Stejilien.son, Isaac, 14.'), IJTji 
Stevens, E. Ray, 170, 17:: 
Stevenson, W.,"l23 
Stiles, L. B., 123 
Stondall, A. M., 434 
Stone, J. A., 403 
Stoessel, A. J., 119, 123 
Strange, John, 162, 185 
Stout, J. n., 66, 235, 155, 379 

390 
Stubbs, W. R., 30 
Sturdevant, L. M., 173, 195. 

206, 231 
Sturtevant, .T. L., 296, 310 

Tarrant, W. D., 118, 119, 122 

Taylor, H. A., 64 

Tavlor, W. R., 37 

Tews, A. G. H., 123 

Thorn, H. C, 51 

Thomas, J. W., 195, 206, 252. 

282 
Thompson, Torger, 194, 252 
Thuring. Geo., 123 
Tildcn, Edward, 270 
Tomkiewicz, .1. W. S., 119. 12.T 
Todd, S. B., 273 
Torge, A. T., 261, AM 
Tracy, E. L., 131 
Trover, Ilenrv, 123 
Treat, J. B., "155, 296 
Trumpf, C. H., 118, 12(t 
Tucker, F. T., 160 
Tupper, 0. A., 235 

Urn fried, Emil, 125 
Upham, W. H., 66, 365 
U'Ren. AV. S.. .11 

Van Altciiia, \V. K.. 119 
Van Cleave, H. J., 403 
Vanderboom, E. J., 349 



iZ-d'^t fV 



478 



LaFoLKKTTK's Wl.N.MNi; OF WlS( ON8IN 






Vallicr, Joseph, 119 
Vandereook, G. E., 201, 321 
Van Ewvk. Chas., 119, 122 
Van Hise, C. R., 26 
Van 8ant, S. R., 444 
Vernon, R. C, 65 
Vilas, W. F., 398 
Vincent, M. D., 31 
Vinje, A. J., 66 
Vogenitz, J. C, 119, 122 
Volstead, A. J., 22 

Wall, E. C, 116 
Wallrich, M. J., 232, 252 
Walsh, J. A., 398 
Warner, E. N., 189, 448 
Wellman. Walter, 381 
White, W. A., 25, 31 
Wheeler, W. G., 383 



Wilder, Amos 1*.. 265, 293, 297 ^ 
387, 418 ^ 

Wilder, Perrv C, 67. 127, 40:' 
Wilkins, D. Fred. 433 
Winkler, F. C, 358. 362 
Winkel, Fred, 122 
Winslow, J. B., 27 
Wieber, A. A.. 122 
Williams, E. A.. 172 
Williams. W. II., 49 
Wilson. Woodrow, 25 
Wiswall, G. C, 273 
Wylie, George. 220 

Yates, Richard. 444 

Zentner, A. F., 118, 122 
Zillmer. Theodore, 117, 118, 122 
Zimmerman, A. G., 79, 177 



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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 



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